PEPE MENA ALSO GETS HIS REWARD IN VILLANUEVA DE LA SERENA

The spotlight was on the Sevilla academy this Thursday at the Villanueva de la Serena, as no less than three players who came through the Sevilla youth system made their long-awaited debuts for the first-team. Together with Juan Soriano and Javi Vázquez, who both started against CF Villanovense, Pepe Mena also got the chance to play his first few minutes of senior football at the age of 20. He was on the pitch for 13 minutes in total, after he came on for another academy graduate Borja Lasso in the 77th minute of the game.

Mena, who renewed his contract last year until 2021, went through a similar situation near the end of the 16/17 season when he was called up by Jorge Sampaoli to travel to none other than the Santiago Bernabeu. However, unlike this Thursday, on that occasion, he did not have the opportunity to get out onto the pitch. With his mind firmly focused on achieving his objectives with Sevilla Atlético, the attacking midfielder receives an important morale boost, as the regular call from Pablo Machín to train with the first-team squad has culminated in his first senior outing.

Including the three players from yesterday, the Sevilla manager has handed debuts to a total of five academy graduates in little over three over four months of competitive fixtures, as we must not forget that centre-back Juan Berrocal and winger Pejiño were also given their debuts in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Europa League.