Whirlwind tactics and aggression: Pako Ayestaran analyses Jorge Sampaoli's high-flying Sevilla

The former Liverpool assistant and Valencia manager explains to The Independent what Claudio Ranieri's Foxes need to look out for on Wednesday night

Leicester are going to need their wits about them if they stand any chance of getting a result off Sevilla (Getty)

To fully understand what Leicester City are going to face on Wednesday night, you have to understand the mindset of Sevilla’s manager Jorge Sampaoli, and this is someone who describes his teams as 90-minute attacking forces. The key, however, is these words are often backed up by actions. Sampaoli’s sides normally play with no fear of losing. I like that, as too many teams in football nowadays play with the fear of losing.

By contrast, Sampaoli’s sides are driven by passion, a passion that he so clearly infuses the squads with. There is an enjoyment to the play. He believes an attack-minded team, going forward with possession, is the best way to get results.

That possession normally starts from the back. He started at Sevilla with his centre-backs more involved but at the moment, it is Steven N’Zonzi and even Samir Nasri dropping back though the middle between the centre-backs to build the first phase of attack.

From there, Sevilla look to build from the centre of the pitch with players placed at different points to break the lines. They are anything but a flat side, and it makes them so fluid. Because, even if they can’t build from there, the full-backs will suddenly offer width to release things. That makes the opposition reshuffle, diverts attention and players, and allows the ball to go back inside. Disrupting that is going to be very difficult for Claudio Ranieri.

Once Sevilla have the ball in the final third, the full-backs then either cut inside or outside, with players like Vitolo, Stevan Jovetic, Franco Vazquez and the centre-forward pouring into the box, often overloading defences.

If they don’t score when attacking this way, Sevilla then try a more direct approach in the final few minutes.

The giant Vicente Iborra is an aerial force, allowing players like Jovetic or Joaquin Correa to run in behind. A classic example of this was Correa’s 80th-minute goal to give them a 1-0 win away to Las Palmas last week.

The other problem for Leicester is that, even if Ranieri figures out one way to counter their system, Sevilla can change it so effortlessly. Sampaoli’s approach allows for flexibility. His preferred system is a 3-4-3, but he can easily modify depending on the opposition.

Then there’s the other side of his possession approach, that really makes his teams so aggressive: the pressing and defending from the front.

Because his teams play with the lines close together, Sevilla always try to press and recover the ball as much as possible in the opposition half.

Steven N'Zonzi has established himself as a central feature to the Sevilla team (Getty)

It was actually interesting to see the development of this in Sampaoli’s first few games. They initially had quite a problem with transitions because the central defenders were wide open on the pitch and the midfielders at a different level. Now, they are more balanced, with the centre-backs closer together to stop the counter-attacks.

When defending, Sevilla look to create zones where the main references are the ball and the teammate. If the opposition is able to break the lines - as, maybe, with the pace of Jamie Vardy - Sampaoli’s players shuffle across to create a superiority goalside of the ball.

It poses a match where Leicester will have multiple problems to solve.