Jorge Sampaoli is risking his position as Sevilla coach in a busy and decisive week during which Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán will hand down his sentence.

First with the first match of the round of 16 of the Europa League against the Turkish Fenerbahçe, and three days later against Almeria in a tough duel that will serve to resolve the question of who will remain in the lower ranks.

Two bad results, even one if it happens mainly in the league championship, would hasten the Argentine coach’s departure as long as Nervion’s battered economy allows.

From Brazil, where Sampaoli coached Santos and Atlético Mineiro for three years, they are taking advantage of this moment of anxiety to attack him.

“Sampaoli has had a coaching career spanning almost 30 years and, by simple comparison, has won fewer titles than Abel Ferreira in two years and a few months at Palmeiras. But he believes he is a god and is deified,” says Antero Greco, an influential journalist from ESPN who has almost 700,000 followers on Twitter.

Paulo Cobos, from the same media, attacks the coach of Sevilla with defensive nuances. He does so, on his official blog, using the fact that another coach who recently also worked in Brazil, the Portuguese Jorge Jesús, is waiting for him this Thursday.

“Sampaoli’s failure at Sevilla and Jesús’s less than exuberant work at Benfica and Fenerbahçe show that neither of them is big enough to be the best manager in Europe. Brazilian football needs Jesús and Sampaoli. But they need much more from Brazil. Here, Sampaoli can complain about everything and ask for reinforcements every week,” he said. (D)