“Žalgiris” – “Barcelona” – “Žalgiris”. This is how the schedule of matches between the Spanish football giants “Sevilla” will look like in the upcoming seven days, before and after the important “Super Cup” clash with the Vilnius club, as reported by lrytas.lt.
“Sevilla” and “Žalgiris” will face off in the third round of the UEFA Europa League qualifiers. The first match at the “Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan” stadium will take place on Thursday, and the return leg will be exactly a week later in Vilnius.
“I see only positives that we will have the opportunity to meet a club of this caliber. However, it is not something that happens to everyone. Even in friendly matches, such teams do not cross paths, as we are still not in the same weight category,” – commented “Žalgiris” coach Valdas Urbonas on the upcoming match.
He, like the “Žalgiris” players, promises to simply enjoy football, as “Sevilla” is a giant in every sense compared to the capital club.
Just looking at the values of both teams indicated on “Transfermarkt” is enough.
While “Žalgiris” has a value of 6.48 million, “Sevilla” is valued nearly 35 times more – 225.80 million euros.
The most expensive Spanish player is the French midfielder Steven Nzonzi (around 30 million euros), who arrived in Sevilla from the English team “Stoke City”.
Among the other notable names of “Sevilla” – the 31-year-old Spanish forward Nolito, who has previously played for “Barcelona”, “Benfica”, and “Manchester City”.
Before the match with “Žalgiris”, the Spaniards also acquired the services of “Barcelona” defender Aleix Vidal, who has been training with the team since Tuesday.
Looking at the “Žalgiris” camp, the forces are incomparably weaker. The most valuable “Žalgiris” player is defender Tomas Šimkovičius (800 thousand euros).
However, just like the team, “Žalgiris” fans see the upcoming match as an opportunity to develop a high-caliber team in Lithuania.
So far, only one club of this caliber has visited our country, when in 2006 FBK “Kaunas” played against the then UEFA Champions League winner “Liverpool”.
The ticket sales for the “Žalgiris” and “Sevilla” match, which started on August 6, are progressing rapidly – almost all tickets in the main sectors of the LFF stadium's Eastern stands have been sold out.
It is undeniable that the stadium will be full. The match will kick off at 8 PM on Thursday.
lrytas.lt
