Yellow Card Crisis Threatens to Leave Sevilla's Defence in Tatters
Sevilla head to Getafe on Sunday with five players one booking away from suspension, four of them defenders — and the Seville derby looming next weekend.
Sevilla’s trip to the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez this Sunday is already a tricky one on paper — but a yellow card crisis in their backline is making it a proper headache for Matías Almeyda.
The Booking Timebomb
Five Sevilla players are currently on a yellow card warning, meaning one more caution and they’re suspended. The names are:
- César Azpilicueta
- José Ángel Carmona
- Tanguy Nianzou
- Lucien Agoumé
- (plus one further player)
Four of those five are defenders. Miss a beat against Getafe and they sit out the Seville derby the following weekend — which, as any football fan knows, is absolutely the last game you want to be missing.
Already Running Out of Bodies
What makes this situation properly alarming is the injury list that’s already piling up at the back. Andrés Castrín, Marcao and Oso are all sidelined, and Juanlu is suspended after picking up a red card against Alavés. So Almeyda is already patching things together at the back — he can’t really afford to lose anyone else.
When asked whether he’d rotate some of the at-risk players against Getafe, the Sevilla boss was characteristically non-committal: “We’re thinking about it and we have two more days, so we’ll see.”
Fair enough, really. It’s a nightmare call.
The Worst Possible Opponents
Getafe, of course, are absolutely the wrong side to be playing when you’re trying to keep your players out of the referee’s notebook. The Azulones are the third most-booked side in La Liga, with 60 yellows and 3 reds this season. They play right on the edge — always have done — and they’ll make life uncomfortable.
And Sevilla? They’re actually the most booked side in the whole division — 71 yellows and 4 reds, not counting the technical staff. So when these two get together, it tends to be a bit of a card fest. Not ideal when you’re already on thin ice.
Nianzou’s Return Is a Silver Lining
The one genuinely good bit of news from the Sevilla camp is that Nianzou is back. The French centre-back came through 45 minutes as a starter against Alavés after three months out with physical problems, and looked decent. Given his injury history, the club are understandably cautious, but sporting director Antonio Cordón has publicly backed his recovery. If he comes through the week in good nick, he’s expected to start at Getafe — and his physicality and ability on the ball are exactly what a depleted backline needs right now.
Almeyda’s got a proper juggling act on his hands. Get the balance wrong and he could be heading into a derby with half a defence missing.