Match Report: Sevilla 1-3 Birmingham City FC
Pre-season match was anything but friendly | Two clubs in very different situations faced each other
In a hot Portuguese summer day, it was Birmingham City who claimed the pre-season win against Matias Almeyda’s Sevilla in his first match in charge. It was a very impressive display by Chris Davies’ team, and the English side showed they are both ready to compete after their recent promotion to the Championship, but also a good side that understand what is needed from their coach. Davies cites Roberto Martinez and Pep Guardiola as coaching influences, and it shows.
Almeyda is in a much different place in his first job in the top five leagues of Europe, and taking the reigns in a club in deep need of change, with a starting eleven full of youth products who struggled to adapt to the 4-1-4-1 the Argentinean coach put on the pitch as his first tactical layout.
That formation turned into a 4-3-3 once Almeyda realized that Birmingham was building the play from the back with a 4-4-2 which left three defenders at the back; they had plenty of space and exploited it with an early goal; which prompted Almeyda to het his side higher up the field in order to press the Birmignham City build up.
On the offensive, Sevilla struggled to build through the middle, with Birmingham boxing the two rivals’ midfielders with four attacking players, and forcing them towards the wings. New signing Alfon and the return of Nigerian wingback Ekuje showed promise playing together, with perhaps the latter as the most active carrier for Sevilla—certainly showing that, if he can leave his personal comings and goings aside, he could be a good player for this—or any other team.
Sevilla, even though Almeyda wanted to, could not build from the back, with goalkeeper Alvaro Fernandez shaky both on the first pass to start the play, and in the air, which was one of the reasons for the second Birmingham goal, scored by Neumann on a set piece that, on Sevillas defensive side of things, left much to be desired.
For the English side, it was the 6 3’’ centerback who commanded the Birmingham City defense, pushed through the midfield with incisive runs, and showed the leadership that Sevilla does not have at the moment. City, with its structure, constant pressure when Sevilla had the ball, and quick turns to create opportunities once they regained possession, put its name to a very impressive first half.
In the second half, important Sevilla players featured, and Sevilla started to build from the back more effectively, with players like Marcao and Januzaj increasing the quality of passing combinations. Rafa Mir was also in, but proved erratic throughout the second half and was largely unable to cause problems for the Birmingham City defense.
However, the Spanish side did not cause many troubles at all until youth product Nico Guillén scored with a well placed shot after a good pressuring moment by Sevilla. The 17 year old snubbed Real Madrid earlier in his career and showed promise in the early Almeyda days at midfield.
Nevertheless, Birmingham City showed its ability to close the match with another goal that would make it 1-3 in the dying minutes, with a cheeky free kick by Matt Leonard, aiming at the near post, surprising Alberto Flores. The pre-season game, with several moments throughout where both teams clashed and exchanged words with one another, felt like an official match at times, and one Birmingham City took to continue to build in their exciting Championship season. For Almeyda, it is back to the drawing board, and hoping more high-caliber first-team players can join post-vacation in the next encounter against Sunderland, in a week’s time.
Worth mentioning—Sevilla:
Guillén’s pressing (and goal)
Januzaj’s spots of creativity
Ekuje’s first half on the right wing
Second-half intensity
Idumbo’s energy from the left wing in the second half
Goalkeeping errors, especially from Fernandez
Shaky center backs in the first half (Salas and Martinez)
Lack of structured buildup
Worth mentioning—Birmingham City:
Strong positioning, structure and agressiveness
Allsop’s passing and security between the posts
Dangerous on set pieces
Goals: 0-1: Anderson 10; 0-2: Klarer 25; 1-2: Nico Guillén 75; 1-3: Leonard 88.