NOW TO FINISH THE GROUP OFF IN STYLE, EVEN THOUGH ALREADY QUALIFIED

Up until now, Sevilla FC have had an impeccable run in the UEFA Europa League this season. Now, with two group games remaining, it might be time to take our foot off the accelerator. Well, that would at least happen with the common teams participating in the tournament. However, to be on top of the pile of the list of winners of the UEL, it entails a series of obligations. Amongst those, is to treat each game with the maximum respect. This is something that Julen Lopetegui made clear in his pre-match press conference. There's no doubt that the five Europa League trophies that Sevilla boast go to show the importance of this competition for the club and that for the other three teams in the group, everything is still to play for and therefore it requires the maximum effort level from Sevilla FC.

It's still to be seen what will happen in the two remaining group games, but what is known is that Sevilla will qualify as group winners and therefore in the round of 32, will play the second leg at home. That being said, their influence on what could happen to their group rivals is massive and might determine which one of them qualifies alongside them for the knockout stages. In fact, there's only one outcome which would leave the fate of the group already decided by the time the last matchday came around. For that to happen, Sevilla would have to win their 5th consecutive European game tonight and APOEL, who have been up and down in the competition so far, would have to beat F91 Dudelange away from home. Then, in the sixth and final group game, APOEL and Sevilla would be playing the game knowing that they were both already qualified.

If they were to win tonight, Sevilla FC would keep up their record as the only team with a 100% record in the UEL this season

Of course, there will be changes to the team and those who haven't played as many minutes in the league will no doubt get a chance from the start tonight. With it, the Europa League has turned out to be a time where Lopetegui can make the use of his squad, so that more players can play more minutes and are ready when called upon. At least, this is what the coach himself says, as he could go back to the system he used previously with two strikers up front as the vocal points of the team.

On the other hand, Qarabag, who arrived in Sevilla on Tuesday night, need to take something from Nervión in order to keep their qualification hopes alive, in a group which has become harder as the matchdays have went on. Although they started with a defeat against Sevilla at home, the team from Azerbaijan quickly occupied second spot in the group and even now they sit joint second with APOEL. However, the goal difference that they lost in the defeat against they Cypriots will weigh them down. Therefore, a defeat tonight could leave them with no chance in the last game of the group, when they will host F91 Dudelange, if those from Luxembourg don't take anything from their own game. They find themselves in quite an alien position to that of their own league as, once again, they lead from the front. Their three Spanish players: Míchel Madera, Jaime Romero and Dani Quintana, will no doubt be looking forward to playing in the home country, even with the pressure of knowing that it's a 'double or nothing' match.

If Qarabag fall to defeat in Nervión and APOEL win in Luxembourg, the Cypriots will be qualified, mathematically, in second

The referee for the game is the Swedish man Mohammed Al-Hakim, who is 34 years old. Since the 2015/16 season, he has been gathering experience refereeing the preliminary rounds in European competition. However, he has taken charge of a few international matches in the UEFA Nations League and in the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Moreover, it wasn't until this season, in the Astana-Partizan game in October, when he made his debut in the UEFA Europa League group stages. He has never before refereed a Spanish team.