LOPETEGUI IS BREAKING RECORDS BUT NOT GETTING AHEAD OF HIMSELF

If something has made Sevilla FC a household name in both Spanish and European football over the past number of years, it's been their ability to never surrender. The statistics and even their achievements over the last few years have been great, but also have led to this ambition to never rest and always want more. One of the best examples of this is what is happening with the side this season; and it's that after 14 league games tucked away, Julen Lopetegui now has the best win percentage of any Sevilla FC manager (57.4%). The man from the Basque countryhas overtaken Jorge Sampaoli, who had a percentage of 55.3% throughout the 2016/17 season whenever he was in charge. This statistic refers to the managers who have managed more than five official games.

It's a statistic to be proud of; however, with more than half the season to be played, it doesn't mean anything. In fact, if you look back, but not too much, you will see that this start to the campaign, even though the third placed team are only a stone's throw away from the leaders, is by no means the best in recent years. In fact, last season, the start was the exact same after 14 games. Eight wins, three draws and three defeats with a goal difference of +9, better than this year's +4. At this stage last season, Sevilla were sitting in second place, also only a point behind the leader; but ended the season finishing sixth and not qualifying for the Champions League. The year before last, Sevilla had 28 points after 14 games - one more than they have now. At this stage in that season, Sevilla sat in fifth place in a league were the teams on top didn't give anything away cheaply to those below them. This time, Sevilla finished in seventh position.

From all of this, we can gather that yes, the team have the right to be positive because of their start, but at the same time they must not get ahead of themselves and simply focus on the day to day work. Another opportunity comes on Sunday for the best away team in La Liga, as they will be looking to keep up their good form. Beforehand, they have a Europa League game to contend with on Thursday against Qarabag, in a group from which Sevilla have already qualified as winners. With the Copa del Rey now on the horizon as well, there's no doubt that it will become more and more complicated for Sevilla to keep up their good form and keep a hold of their strong league position. However... it wouldn't be a Sevilla FC team without a few challenges to overcome, correct?