BARCELONA: Sevilla drew 0-0 at Valencia yesterday as their bid for an automatic Champions League berth continued to fade amid speculation over the future of coach Jorge Sampaoli.
Sevilla were mounting an outside challenge for the Spanish title through the first seven months of the season, but their goal now is just to secure a place in Europe’s top competition for next season.
The draw meant fourth-placed Sevilla fell three points behind third-placed Atletico Madrid, who beat Osasuna 3-0 on Saturday.
Sevilla have only one win in their last seven league matches, a slump that overlapped with their elimination by Leicester from the Champions League Round of 16.
The decline has also coincided with increasing tension in Seville over whether Sampaoli will honour his contract through the end of next season.
Unacceptable
Earlier this week, Sevilla issued a statement calling it “unacceptable” that the president of the Argentine football federation said he would meet Sampaoli over the possibility of him taking over the national team from the fired Edgardo Bauza.
The closest Sevilla went to scoring at Mestalla Stadium was when substitute Stevan Jovetic hit the post in the 17th minute, shortly after he replaced injured Victor “Vitolo” Machin.
Valencia, likewise, mustered very little beyond a header by Munir El Haddadi that Sevilla back Mariano cleared from his goal line before half an hour was up.
Nani returned to the pitch for Valencia as a late substitute in his first match since recovering from a muscle injury that had sidelined him for almost two months.
The draw ended Valencia’s streak of three consecutive victories, but extended its unbeaten run at home to seven matches under caretaker coach Salvador “Voro” Gonzalez.