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Nasri to answer Sevilla's SOS

6 months ago  Raphael   Sport News

Jorge Sampaoli is set to welcome Samir Nasri back from injury this week, with the club having toiled somewhat in his absence.
Sevilla are likely to call upon him once more for their crucial Champions League fixture against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
It is a competition which brings out the best in the Frenchman and he hears the famous anthem which rings out before each game with all the regularity of his favourite song on Spotify.
Against Leicester, he is set to return to the starting line-up and make his 58th appearance in the competition, hoping to lead Sevilla to a historic quarter-final berth for only the second time in their history after doing so for the first time 60 years ago.
To take that step though, they may need a big helping hand from their influential playmaker, who has been a reference point for Sevilla during their best moments this season.
The team has gone through a slight dip in Nasri's absence, drawing twice in their last two games, and some doubts have slowly crept in ahead of one of the biggest games of the club's season.
Nasri has often stepped up to the mark on the big occasions this year when the team need him to assume responsibility and they will be calling on him to do so again during their trip to England.
Without his creativity in the side, there is a lack of much needed guile in the final third and Sevilla's consistent creation of chances has declined without the ex-Arsenal man.
His absence has also impacted on others in the side such as his compatriot Steven N'Zonzi, who isn't going through his best moment of the campaign, and who needs the reassurance of having Nasri ahead of him looking to alleviate the pressure on the deeper-lying midfielders.
Both the French midfielders' Champions League statistics have highlighted how important each of them are to the system Sampaoli wants to play.
N'Zonzi has completed the fourth highest amount of passes in this season's competition behind Julian Weigl, Marco Verratti and Thiago, which a 93 percent completion rate.
Nasri isn't far behind him in that regard, having completed 91 percent of his attempted passes in Europe's premier club competition and both men have essentially been the driving force behind their team's continental performances.
In addition, Nasri, like N'Zonzi, will return to an environment he is familiar with when he takes to the field in a Premier League stadium.
He has spent the majority of his playing career plying his trade in that division and could return next season, given that he is on loan in Seville from Manchester City.
In spite of the amount of time he has spent in England, Nasri has played at the King Power stadium just once, during a 1-0 victory for City.His experience could be vital in relaying to his teammates the kind of welcome and atmosphere that Sevilla can expect against the Foxes.
The time has come for Sevilla's chosen ones and with a playmaker who thrives under the pressure set to make his comeback, their pleas for Nasri to return have been answered.