Sevilla not out of La Liga title race

Much has been said about La Liga in the last few months. The main focus of attention has been with eternal rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona. Real Madrid’s big spending has put Los Blancos back on par with the European champions

It was just assumed that the two giants would be the only teams competing for the La Liga crown. However Sevilla who finished third in La Liga last season are looking stronger than they have for along time.

Strength in-depth

Sevilla have something this season that they have lacked in previous season that is strength in depth. They now possess 20 quality squad players.

Strong in attack

One of the strongest areas of their team is their front line. Last season’s strike force of Brazilian Luis Fabiano and former Tottenham star Frederic Kanoute are always a big danger to any defence. They are even stronger up front after adding prolific striker Alvaro Negredo to their squad during the summer. The striker has spent the last two years on-loan at Getafe from parent club Real Madrid. In any normal team Negredo would have to be one of the first names on the teamsheet but Real are not a normal team.

With the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Brazilian Kaka, Negredo was unlikely to get much first team football. The 24 year-old has already struck twice in La Liga this season and is likely to keep scoring. They also have promising young attacker Diego Perotti, who has also scored two goals in La Liga. The Argentinian winger could be a star of the future.

Another useful back-up is Ivory Coast striker Arouna Kone. Although hes struggled for goals at Sevilla he always put in a shift for the team. He has however recently admitted he would consider a move away from Seville if he would have the chance of regular first team football.

Talented midfield

Sevilla’s talented midfield of last year was bettered this summer with the arrival of midfielder enforcer Didier Zokora from Tottenham. The Ivorian star has lots of very good attributes but didn’t quite show his best form at Spurs and maybe the move will re-ignite his form.

He joins the likes of Brazilian duo Renato and Adriano, Diego Capel, Jesus Navas in a superb midfield. Capel has a fight on his hands for the left side of midfield role with the aforementioned Diego Perotti also able to play the role. Add to those the talents of Romaric and strong Argentianan midfield Aldo Duscher and they have a midfield able to challenge any opponent.

Big challenge this weekend against Real Madrid

Sevilla face up to big spending Real Madrid on Saturday night at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. This will be the first test of their title credentials. I think they can pull off a surprise victory. Real Madrid seem to be relying on Brazilian superstar Kaka far too much already. In their last La Liga outing against Tenerife they struggled until the former AC Milan ace came off the substitute bench to inspire a 3-0 victory.

They may have a group of great individual players but they haven’t yet got a great team. Cristiano Ronaldo has also thrown a few strops in his short time at the Bernabeu. I think Sevilla are a great team who can produce a surprise victory over the big spending Madrid giants.