The Croatian player has reached the final stage in his best moment, backed by Lopetegui, and his leadership is not in dispute for years to come
Ivan Rakitic has not had it easy in the first year of his return to Seville. He himself knew that the expectations were very high and that he was nothing like that young Croatian who landed in Nervión at the beginning of the previous decade. With 33 years now the midfielder is a footballer smarter in tactics and in the conservation of the ball. On the other hand, it has lost the ability to go and return. Legs do not lie when push comes to shove. However, despite his irregular campaign, he has reached the decisive stretch being the Seville lighthouse on the field of play. He has laid, next to Fernando, the team behind his back. And that fight for the LaLiga podium must have his name underlined in red.
The greatest defender of Rakitic These months, apart from the player himself, with very broad shoulders and a capital confidence in his conditions to return to being a basic part of Sevilla, he has been their coach. Lopetegui He has taken it out of the starting eleven on very few occasions. In some valley of performance. The coach thinks that his experience and ease in mastering the game of possession and position brings them closer to victory, taking the necessary risks. The Croatian has been seen even more comfortable when the Papuan has gone on the attack. Better in the double pivot than as an interior, where he was asked to step on an area with a frequency that he can no longer reach.
And their numbers are there. Sum 48 games with Sevilla. Tomorrow he will cross the border of the 3,000 minutes. In the last six days he has scored three goals of tremendous value, two of them from the point of penalty, a circumstance that does not burn the professional with the greatest experience on the big stages of the Andalusian dressing room. His natural leadership has permeated the locker room. And his positivism. It has taken iron away from the unpleasant situations of the course and is betting that in this line of performance, in future courses, Sevilla will achieve successes never before achieved.
Rakitic signed four seasons with Sevilla. Despite his knowledge of the city and the club itself, he needed some time to adapt to the new demand he was going to have in Nerve, in terms of football and physical aspects. A process that appears to have completed successfully. Just as everything is ending, it already shines Rakitic with Sevilla. One of the great news for a cub who bet heavily on him and who came to fear that he could not see that version of a true leader who has always shown the number 10. The next steps, from Sevilla and Rakitic himself, will be hand in hand. The growth of both is matched.
