Just when neutrals were starting to root for Sevilla in the Spanish title race, the outsiders fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat by Athletic Club on Monday, leaving them six points below leaders Atletico Madrid.
In a tussle in which momentum has seemingly swung one way and another in the last couple of months, Julen Lopetegui’s team had quietly found some consistency, closed the gap and had a mathematical chance of shocking Atletico (76 points) as well as Real Madrid and Barcelona tied on 74 points going into gameweek 35.
Success for the Andalusians would have put them three points below the lesser capital club and one behind the team they face on Sunday.