Sevilla vs. Leicester City, Champions League draw: A tricky tie for England’s surprise champions

The round of 16 has thrown together two teams unused to the sharp end of the Champions League: under normal circumstances, Sevilla would be looking forward to the Europa League draw, and Leicester would be worrying about relegation. So at least we can be sure that everybody’s going to enjoy the experience.

This season has been a journey into the unknown for Sevilla, who are finally mixing it with the Champions League’s big boys after winning the Europa League the last three seasons running. Not only are they now in Europe’s top club competition, but they’re there with a new coach: former Chile boss Jorge Sampaoli replaced the enormously successful Unai Emery in the summer, and has been tasked with trying to take the La Liga outfit to the next level.

It’s a case of so far, so good for the Andalusian outfit, who are enjoying a successful season on both domestic and continental fronts. They’re just a point adrift of second-placed Barcelona in La Liga, and progressed to the Champions League knockouts playing some thoroughly entertaining football. They’re certainly not expected to go all the way, but they play exciting, attack-minded football in the Marcelo Bielsa mould, and are going to be one of the neutrals’ favourites when the knockout stages begin.

How they got here: For a while Sevilla vied with Juventus for Group H’s top spot, though threw away a lead at home to the Italian champions in their only loss of the first round. That killed their hopes of progressing as table toppers, though a goalless draw with Lyon on the final matchday saw them safely through in second.

Key player: Steven N’Zonzi. Though he’s certainly not the most glamorous player in an exciting Sevilla squad, N’Zonzi is one of the most important. The Frenchman has done a great job anchoring the midfield since joining from Stoke City, and is vital at stopping opponents stealing a march on the counter attack.

The champions of England -- still weird, will never not be weird -- are making a complete mess of their title defence at home, but in Europe, they made serene progress through Group G. Quite why this should be the case isn’t entirely clear, though presumably somebody in the Premier League’s marketing department is delighted to finally have evidence that their competition is much more competitive than all the other competitions.

That said, they had a relatively forgiving group. Here in the sharp end of the competition, we suspect that the central defensive partnership of Wes Morgan and Robert Huth might be a little more vulnerable. Indeed, they might already be creaking. A 5-0 thrashing by Porto in the last game led to a formal apology from Claudio Ranieri. With the team just above the Premier League relegation zone and with no clear plan as to what the best starting XI might be, that post-title honeymoon really didn’t last very long. Perhaps their weekend thrashing of Manchester City is a sign that they’re sorting themselves out.

How they got here: They didn’t concede a single goal until the 52nd minute of their fifth match, then they conceded five in their sixth. As with so much about Leicester City, the only real response is a furrowed brow and a shrug.

Key player: Riyad Mahrez. When a team starts to fall apart, it looks to its genius for inspiration. But so far this season, Mahrez has failed to recapture the form that made him PFA Player of the Year last time around. Leicester will need him to shake off his malaise.

A prediction? About Leicester? Because they all went so well last season. But if you insist: we think it’ll be an entertaining game, but ultimately, Sevilla’s attack will have just too much for Leicester’s defence.