La Liga returns this weekend with a massive battle between Sevilla and Valencia on Friday night at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium that kicks off another enticing year of action in Spain's top flight.
Neither side left the 2022/23 La Liga season happy.
¡𝐂𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐨, 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚! 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/XezOoszEhi— Sevilla Fútbol Club (@SevillaFC) August 10, 2023
¡𝐂𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐨, 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚! 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/XezOoszEhi
In fact, both clubs finished in the worst position for more than two decades with Sevillla ending up in 12th on the 38th game - their previous lowest finish of this century was when they were relegated by finishing 20th in 1999/00.
Sevilla finished the season with 13 victories in the 38 games played and lost 15 times in La Liga too.
This saw them score the fewest goals they have since 2004/05 when they bagged just 44 goals.
The club’s defensive record of 54 goals scored was also the most they have let in since 2017/18.
On the other hand to their terrible form shown on the domestic front, stunningly, in typical Sevilla style, they somehow managed to triumph yet again in the Europa League, as they have done six other times in the past 18 years.
The Seville outfit beat Roma on penalties in the final after beating the likes of Manchester United en route to another final.
This once again means the club will be back in the Champions League for this season, although they were knocked out in the group stages of Europe’s elite competition last campaign.
On the transfer front, Sevilla have seen Bryan Gil, Alex Telles and Pape Gueye depart the club as their loan spells ended, although they have managed to bring in Loic Bade from Rennes to bulk up the defence.
Oscar, Kike Salas, Ivan Romero and Jose Angel Carmona all rejoin the club after the end of their loan spells, and Djibril Sow also joins the midfield from Eintracht Frankfurt on a permanent deal.
As for Valencia, their 16th-placed finish last season was their lowest since 1985/86 and also the seventh time they have finished outside of the top seven in the past decade, meaning no European football once again.
The club have brought in Cenk Özkacar and Pepelu on permanent transfers, and saw seven players return on loan.
However, they have also lost a lot of names, including stars like Yunus Musah, Edinson Cavani and saw loanee names like Nico Gonzalez and Justin Kluivert depart.
Forebet predicts a win for Sevilla here and for the game to see under 2.5 goals.