The Andalusians won the Europa League less than three years ago but are presently 19th in La Liga and beset by economic issues.
Most Spanish football fans are caught up in the title race right now, and that's hardly surprising, of course.
Barcelona and Real Madrid aren't just the two biggest clubs in La Liga, they're arguably the two biggest clubs in the world, and there are just three points between them at the top of the table.
However, the battle to beat the drop could be just as fascinating this season. Indeed, if you cast a glance at the other end of the standings, you'll find a very surprising name: Sevilla FC.
That's right, unbeknownst to most casual football fans, the team that finished fourth in La Liga last season are in real danger of relegation.
On Saturday night, in fact, the 19th-placed Andalusians will face Cadiz, a side sitting one spot and one point above them in the table.
So, how did it come to this? How did a team that won the Europa League just under three years ago, beating Inter in the final, find themselves in a real six-pointer at the halfway point of the 2022-23 campaign?
GOAL tries to make sense of it all below…
Getty ImagesMonchi's lost his transfer market mojo
Sevilla finished fourth last season, securing Champions League qualification for the third successive season.
However, there were already issues at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, primarily caused by poor recruitment, which is obviously noteworthy, given sporting director Monchi is regarded as one of the best transfer market operators in world football.
However, many of his signings since the summer of 2020 have just not worked out e.g. Oscar Rodridguez, Oussama Idrissi and Karim Rekik.
What's more, there was a notable shift in transfer policy, with the club realising the post-Ronaldo and Messi era in La Liga offered them a unique opportunity to win the title.
Consequently, Sevilla began to invest in more experienced players, such as Papu Gomez, Thomas Delaney, Ludwig Augustinsson, Erik Lamela, Anthony Martial, Tecatito Corona and Isco.
This resulted in a major increase in their wage bill, and this became a big problem last season when they were dumped out of the Champions League at the group stage.
They had budgeted for a quarter-final appearance yet they didn't even end up making it past the Europa League round of 16, representing a significant financial setback for the club.
Indeed, they were forced to break up their backline last summer, selling Diego Carlos (£26m) and Jules Kounde (€50m), to Aston Villa and Barcelona, respectively, just to balance the books.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLopetegui's demise
Sevilla may have finished fourth last season but it's worth remembering that they had been legitimate title challengers before the wheels came off in the spring.
They won just three of their final 12 Liga games, between the start of March and the end of May, and Julen Lopetegui's future became a heated topic of discussion.
Club president Jose Castro Carmon wanted to sack the coach, but Monchi was adamant that the former Real Madrid boss deserved to stay on.
Monchi won out, though primarily because of the financial factor. Lopetegui was under contract until 2024 and had no offers on the table from other clubs. A pay-off was not an attractive proposition for Sevilla, given the state of the club's coffers.
However, after Sevilla made a historically bad start to the season, picking up just five points from seven Liga games, Carmon felt he was left but no option but to act, and Lopetegui was dismissed on October 5 and promptly replaced by Jorge Sampaoli.
Sevilla Transfer tension
In Lopetegui's defence, he had not been backed in the summer transfer market. Despite the sales of Kounde and Carlos, there wasn't much money to spend, not least because the likes of Gomez, Olivier Torres and Nemanja Gudelj, who had been deemed surplus to requirements, refused to leave.
Consequently, Lopetegui was left with the same squad full of ageing players that clearly didn't have the physicality or fitness to sustain a title challenge.
They did bring in six players for the start of the 2022-23 campaign but two of those have already gone, with Isco released before the turn of the year and Kasper Dolberg loaned to Hoffenheim earlier this month.
Worse still, the two signings that actually commanded a transfer fee, Marcao (€15m) and Tanguy Nianzou (€16m), have failed to make a positive impact, with the former hindered by injury and the latter blighted by poor form.
Monchi's Midas touch really has deserted him in recent seasons.
GettySampaoli's struggles
The decision to hire Sampaoli certainly hasn't paid off. Sevilla have won just two Liga games on his watch, though they did at least manage to salvage a Europa League spot from another disastrous group-stage campaign in the Champions League with a win over Copenhagen.
Again, though, the coach can argue that he has not been the requisite support in the transfer market.
Sampaoli was promised seven new players during the winter window. Not one has arrived, meaning it's hard to see things getting much better in the second half of the season.
He has made some bizarre decisions and poor tactical mistakes, particularly from a defensive perspective, but there is no denying that this is a squad that lacks speed, strength, stamina and creativity.
Some reinforcements may yet arrive before the close of the window. Loic Bade should arrive on loan and Lucas Ocampos could return from Ajax.
However, for now, Sampaoli has to work with what he has, though he is, in fairness, remaining upbeat.
"I come in every day and I see improvements on a collective level," he insisted. "The group is giving me its answer. They are willing to keep working. It's not time to cry or moan.
"What happened in the past is over. I have just to do my best. If they lied to me or not, that is my private issue with the board and it will be dealt with behind the scenes."
