Listen, I've seen some ugly stretches of football in my lifetime, but what we're witnessing from both these sides heading into Saturday's clash at Ciudad Deportiva de Bunol might just take the cake. Levante and Sevilla are stumbling into this match like two heavyweight boxers in the twelfth round—exhausted, bloodied, and desperate for anything resembling a win.
Let's start with the home side, because frankly, their situation is beyond dire. Five matches without a victory. FIVE. And it's not like they're losing close ones here—we're talking about getting absolutely dismantled week after week. That 4-0 thrashing at Atletico Madrid back in September? That was a statement game, and the statement was brutal: Levante doesn't belong on the same pitch as the elite sides in Liga F. But here's what should terrify their supporters even more—they can't score. Period. Three-tenths of a goal per match over their last six? Those aren't Primera División numbers, those are relegation zone statistics screaming in neon lights.
The absence of Anissa Lahmari has been catastrophic for this squad. When your most creative spark goes missing, when the player who knows how to unlock defenses sits on the sidelines, you're left with what we've witnessed: a toothless attack that couldn't break down a training cone defense. That goalless draw against Alhama back in early September feels like ancient history now, a relic from a time when this team still had belief. Since then? Rock bottom, and they're still digging.
But before we hand Sevilla the three points on a silver platter, let's pump the brakes and examine their so-called "momentum." Yes, they scraped a 1-0 victory against Espanyol last week. Congratulations on beating another struggling side by the slimmest of margins with what appears to be a stoppage-time goal. That's not momentum—that's survival instinct kicking in at the absolute last second. Before that miraculous escape? They were getting absolutely humiliated week after week. Five goals shipped against Barcelona. Three at Real Sociedad. Four against Granada Tenerife. This defense has more holes than Swiss cheese left out in the summer sun.
The tactical battle here isn't going to be some chess match between tactical masterminds—it's going to be a street fight between two desperate teams who know another loss could completely derail their season before we even hit the winter break. Sevilla's recent tendency to score late suggests they might have the mental fortitude edge, but mental fortitude only gets you so far when you've conceded twelve goals in three matches earlier this season.
What makes this match absolutely fascinating—and I use that term loosely—is that somebody HAS to win. Or do they? Because the way both these sides have been playing, a scoreless draw feels almost inevitable. Two teams terrified of losing, terrified of opening up, terrified of taking risks. We might witness ninety minutes of tentative football where neither side truly commits forward because they're both petrified of that counter-attack that could doom them.
Sevilla comes in having found something resembling confidence with that Espanyol result, but confidence is fragile when it's built on one late goal against another bottom-dweller. Levante, meanwhile, is staring into the abyss. Their attack has completely abandoned them, and when you can't score goals in football, you can't win matches. Revolutionary insight, I know, but apparently someone needs to tell their coaching staff.
The prediction? Sevilla edges this one. Not because they're particularly good—they're not. But because Levante has shown absolutely nothing to suggest they can break down even the most porous defenses, and Sevilla has proven they can grind out results when it matters most. This won't be pretty. This won't be entertaining. But Sevilla's experience in ugly matches will be the difference. A scrappy 1-0 victory, probably another late goal, and both sets of supporters will walk away wondering how their clubs fell this far this fast.
Mark it down: Sevilla 1, Levante 0. The winning goal will come after the 70th minute, just like their last victory, because that's who this team is right now—survivors clinging to hope in the dying minutes of matches they probably don't deserve to win.