La Liga: Sevilla vs. Athletic Bilbao

Posted on | April 18, 2007 | No Comments

This match sees Athletic Bilbao striker Ismael Urzaiz reach 413 games with the same shirt. An amazing achievement. He is also the sixth most prolific goal scorer in the history of the competition with 116 goals. And even more amazingly, the thirty five year old is in quite good form at the moment and has helped his team out of the relegation zone they were in a few weeks ago. For those of you who don’t know, Athletic Bilbao is from a small region in Spain called the Basque country, and only Basques are allowed to play for Athletic. No Spanish or any foreigners have ever worn the red and white shirt. What is incredible about this is that they have never been relegated from the maximum category.
Sevilla seem to be feeling the strain of having to play in three competitions, although I don’t think they are complaining about this. Last weekend they lost in Mestalla to a well organised Valencia side, and their league form is becoming increasingly more erratic. In the last seven games they have only managed four goals – the two nil win over troubled Celta, and the last great victory against leaders Barcelona back at the beginning of March. The good news is top league goal scorer and Tottenham’s nightmare Kanute will be back in the team after staying in London after the UEFA cup quarter final to receive treatment on his pubis injury. This week he has trained normally and seems fit as well as rested.
Another interesting piece of data: Athletic haven’t won in the Sevilla’s stadium since the three one defeat in 1993, and in their last three visits have failed to pick up a point. The good news is Athletic have managed to get all six points from their last two league matches, against Espanyol and Valencia, and seem to be on a roll.
Given Sevilla’s problems with scoring at the moment, I’m going to stick my head out and go for a draw. I can’t see Sevilla winning it, but I doubt if Athletic are strong enough to take all three points.

Related posts:

1. La Liga: Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona
2. La Liga: Zaragoza vs. Athletic Bilbao
3. La Liga: Athletic Bilbao vs. Valladolid
4. La Liga: Athletic Bilbao vs. Levante
5. La Liga: Athletico Madrid vs. Athletic Bilbao

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