Sevilla boss Luis Garcia Plaza warns ‘frightening’ Barcelona can overwhelm La Liga rivals

Sevilla manager Luis Garcia Plaza has described Barcelona as a “frightening” side before Saturday’s meeting at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, but insists his team can still cause an upset after previously beating Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.

Barcelona, the reigning La Liga champions and current leaders, visit Sevilla with Hansi Flick’s side attracting particular praise from their opponents. Garcia Plaza said their dominance was about more than simply collecting victories.

“Barcelona are frightening,” he said. “They are an incredible team. They do not just win, they overwhelm.”

Sevilla head into the match in confident mood after taking 13 points from their first six matches. Garcia Plaza said that run had followed what he called “a life experience” of saving the club last season, describing that challenge as extremely difficult.

The Sevilla coach acknowledged the scale of the task facing his side but said the support at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan could give them a chance of competing with Barcelona.

“We are in a good moment and we will compete with everything we have,” he said. “There is always a possibility of winning. With our fans, anything is possible, although we have to be perfect to have any chance.”

Garcia Plaza drew on his own experience of facing Guardiola’s Barcelona to explain why he remains hopeful. That team scored five goals against him, he said, although he also managed to beat them once.

“Guardiola’s Barcelona scored five goals against me, but I beat them once too,” he added.

He also highlighted a difference between Guardiola’s side and the current team under Flick. While the former Barcelona made it difficult for opponents to gain possession, Garcia Plaza believes the present team creates a greater volume of opportunities in front of goal.

“With Pep’s team, you could not touch the ball,” he said. “But these players create a lot of chances to score.”

Garcia Plaza warned that a comfortable Barcelona victory would raise wider questions about the standard of competition in La Liga. He said the extent of their dominance against strong opponents would need to be examined if Sevilla were unable to stay close to them.

“If they come here and beat us easily, we will have to look at what they are doing to beat everyone,” he said. “If we are unable to be close to them, we will have to question the real level of that team.”

Referring to previous comments by Cesc Fabregas, Garcia Plaza added: “As Fabregas said before, they are frightening. They score four or five goals in a single match.”

He concluded: “We will try to compete with them. But if they come here and we are unable to do that, questions will have to be asked about the level of the competition when one team wins everything and produces such big results, even against good teams.”