MADRID, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui faces a make-or-break night on Wednesday when his side entertain Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
The former Spain and Real Madrid boss goes into the game under extreme pressure with Sevilla having taken just five points from a possible 21 in La Liga and just one point from their first two Champions League group matches.
It had looked as if Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid, in which Sevilla were comprehensively outplayed by their rivals, would signal the end to Lopetegui's time in charge, but he survived a Board meeting called on Monday evening and will be in the dugout on Wednesday for a game Sevilla have to win to keep their Champions League hopes realistically alive.
"I'm not thinking there will be a drastic decision, only about recovering the players for the game we have ahead of us. Am I going to plan or pay for the errors? I don't want to talk about that," commented Lopetegui on the weekend.
The coach's situation wasn't helped on Saturday by another injury in defense as Karim Rekik suffered a torn hamstring that will keep him out for the rest of the month.
Rekik joins Tecatito Corona, Marcos Acuna and Marcao on the injury list, while influential holding midfielder Fernando is a doubt with a fever but could recover.
The atmosphere in the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium has been increasingly tense in recent games and Sevilla need an early goal against Dortmund who currently sit in fourth place in the Bundesliga but travel after a 3-2 defeat to Koln at weekend. ■
