THE HARDEST TEAM TO BEAT IN LA LIGA AND IN THE FIVE BIG LEAGUES JOINT WITH LIVERPOOL

The enormous demands that Sevilla FC are subjected to both from inside and outside makes you wince when it comes to analysing the result of the game yesterday against Real Sociedad. Clearly, after a painful elimination from Europe in London, the team and the fans needed a comforting win in Nervión, a fortress in which they are still unbeaten in in the league and only Lille in the Champions League have managed to win in the 19 games played there this season. Therefore, it perhaps makes it more difficult to find the positives from the point yesterday but it confirms once again the difficulty of getting a result against this team, whatever the circumstances. 

The injuries and exhaustion were the key to understanding how yesterday Real Sociedad were close to breaking the long run of games without losing in La Liga, which stretched to 15 consecutive matchdays, three less than the club's all-time record from 2019/20. Imanol Alguacil's side were unable to defeat this Sevilla side who have become one of the clubs with the fewest defeats in the five big leagues so far this season. Only Liverpool can match the one defeat that the team has suffered since last summer. Until last night Real Madrid also matched this feat, having been the only other Spanish team to know what it was to not have lost a home game this season. Now only Sevilla FC remain. In Europe, apart from Madrid, City, Chelsea and Inter have lost three games. Bayern, Barcelona, Milan and PSG have lost one more. 

As well as this is must be noted that the team has conceded the fewest goals in La Liga with just 19 conceded in 29 games. The next closest team, despite the four goals conceded in the Clásico, is Real Madrid on 25. As well as the great defensive effort, this is helped greatly by the performances of the goalkeepers. As well as Bono, who currently leads the standings in the Zamora Trophy although he needs to play another five games to be able to be eligible for the award, the work of Dmitrovic should be added. In fact, the Serbian had to come in yesterday and got a clean sheet for the fifth time in eight games as a Sevilla player, three of them in the league.