MUDO IS MAKING A PLACE FOR HIMSELF IN THE TEAM WITH HIS HARD WORK AND GOALS

Franco Vázquez is a special player. His way of playing the game never fails to impress the average fan. That being said, the term 'mudista' has been made up to represent those who especially like the distinctive playing style of the Argentine. However, putting feelings and sentiments aside, as is the way in professional sport, it's always the numbers that matter at the end of the day. In Vázquez's case, the numbers only underline that, since his arrival in the summer of 2016, his importance to the team only continues to grow.

His personal start under Julen Lopetegui hasn't been the easiest, as Mudo hasn't been one of the first names on the team sheet every week. In the eight league games that he had played this season, before the match against Atlético Madrid, he had only appeared for 140 minutes overall. He was on the bench for the entire game in Cornellá-El Prat; and played the last minutes of the games against Granada, Celta and Alavés - with his first goal of the season against Celta. On top of this, he played 52 minutes in the encounter versus Real Madrid, and the final 10 minutes of the Real Sociedad match - where he also contributed a goal. Besides that, he was left out of the squad against Eibar and Barcelona. 

His numbers this season can only be bettered by those of 2016/17, when he scored eight times

After not making the squad against Barcelona, Vázquez took time to reflect on his role in the squad. After playing the 90 minutes against Qarabag in Azerbaijan, he again played the full game at home against APOEL. Moreover, he was required from the bench in the win over Levante; scored a decisive double in the win over Dudelange, and came on in the second half in the games against Getafe and Valencia. Against Atlético Madrid, on Saturday evening, he made only his second league start of the season, and he celebrated that by scoring a goal - which brought him up to five goals in all competitions, in the process becoming the team's top scorer.

His average goal contribution is around a goal every 100 minutes. He is now the team's top scorer this season, and has contributed to the most goals as well, after making an assist in the game against Qarabag. Vázquez is now only one goal off his total from last season, has equalled his goal tally from the 2017/18 season and is only three behind his record from his debut season, which, up until this point, has been his best goalscoring season as a Sevilla player. Curiously, three of his five goals this season have been headers.