RC Celta de Vigo travelled to the south of Spain to the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium where they took on Sevilla FC. The Andalusian club under Julen Lopetegui enjoyed a positive start to the season with wins over Espanyol and Granada in their opening games moving them to the top of the La Liga table. Celta faced a stiff opener against Real Madrid, but looked strong after their upset of Valencia. In this tactical analysis we see how these two teams clashed in a very interesting battle of tactics with the game culminating in a stalemate.
Lineups
Sevilla shaped up in Lopetegui’s traditional 4-3-3 formation sticking with the defensive partnership of Daniel Carriço and Diego Carlos at the back, despite Carlos’ minor injury in the past week. The pace on the flanks was provided by Sergio Reguilón on the left and Jesús Navas on the right. Fernando Reges organised the buildup between Carriço and Carlos and act as the central pivot. Éver Banega and Joan Jordan drove the midfield in the centre filling spaces left by the overlapping fullbacks. Luuk de Jong played the target man up top, while Nolito provided the attacking threat on the left establishing his rising chemistry with Reguilón since the beginning of this season. Lucas Ocampos was rested after utilising him for 90 minutes against Granada despite his injury. Hence the attacking responsibility on the right fell on the shoulders of ex-Barca man, Munir El Haddadi.
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