GABRIEL MERCADO REACHES 100 SEVILLA GAMES AT THE SAN MAMÉS

Mercado arrived at the end of the 2016 summer transfer window and in addition to being one of the captains, his personality on the pitch has given a lot to Sevilla in these two and a half year. He reached his 100th game in the San Mamés on Thursday, emphasising his remarkable rise as a player since arriving without too much fanfare from River Plate.

Mercado has played in 17 games this season, a season in which he has had to overcome a fractured arm which he suffered in the derby against Betis and a muscular injury which had him out for a period in November. He still has enough time left in the season to reach similar figures of the past two seasons, in which he played 43 (17/18) and 40 games in 16/17. In terms of his contribution up front, despite being a centre-back, he has picked up five goals in Sevilla's colours, three in his debut season and two in the current one.

He has scored five goals, two of them coming in the derby. He has scored against Akhisarspor and Espanyol this season

In 16/17 he scored in both derby matches, scoring in the win at home and the draw in Heliópolis. Furthermore, he notched a decisive goal in injury time at the Riazor to beat Deportivo 3-2. This season he scored one of the six goals against Akhisarspor in Nervión and the equalising goal against Espanyol, before Ben Yedder made it 2-1.

In terms of competitions, he has logically played the most matches in La Liga, with 65 appearances, followed by the UEFA Champions League with 17 matches. After last night's game, he has now played eleven times in the Copa del Rey, in addition to four UEFA Europa League matches and three in the Spanish Supercup. Although he won it all in Argentina - the league, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and the Recopa Sudamericana - Mercado still dreams of winning a title with Sevilla, and there are three opportunities this season to do so.