THE SEVENTH BEST POINTS PER GAME IN THE TOP FIVE LEAGUES

It is the last day of the year, and what better time to have a review of what 2021 brought us; although, let's not forget, the real awards in football are given out in May. Sevilla's performance in the year ought to leave more than a smile on the face. To back that up, you need only look at our league stats, not only compared with La Liga, but all the major leagues: the Premier League, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

Not all of these teams have played the same number of games in the year, but, should you look at points-per-game averages, it becomes clear that Sevilla belongs within the most elite of Europe's teams. We have the seventh best points per game across Europe and the second in La Liga, just behind Real Madrid. At the top of the list is Manchester City who, after their last league win on Wednesday, have 110 points from 44 games, an unreachable tally for the others.

City lead the table with 2.5 points per game

Inter Milan are in second place, having played a game less, with 2.42 points per game. The top three is rounded off by Bayern Munich with 91 points in 38 games - an average of 2.39. In fourth place, we have the first representative from Spain - Real Madrid. Their average stands at 2.36 points per game. Just behind them is PSG with 2.34 and the French side are followed by Atalanta from Italy whose average is 2.14. Next in line is none other than Sevilla, who in their 42 league encounters in 2021 have 89 points, tallying an average of 2.12 points per game.

In total, Lopetegui's team have 27 wins, eight draws and seven defeats, with 65 goals scored and 36 conceded. This puts Sevilla in the illustrious club of only nine teams who can boast of a points-per-game average of more than two. The last two teams come from Italy - AC Milan and Napoli. Borussia Dortmund, FC Barcelona, Juventus and Monaco have exactly two points per game while, with their draw against Brighton, Chelsea fell out of this select group.

Only Madrid, City and Inter have conceded fewer goals than Sevilla

Another aspect worth highlighting is Sevilla's defensive record. Of the 13 aforementioned teams, Sevilla have conceded the fourth fewest goals per game. Only Real Madrid (0.71), Manchester City (0.73) and Inter Milan (0.77) can beat our tally of only 0.86 goals conceded. We are just ahead of PSG on 0.87. The only other teams to concede less than a goal a game are Juventus (0.95) and Napoli (0.98).