In what will be their final fixture in 2020, Sevilla capped off their year in a perfect fashion with a 2-0 victory over Villarreal to move into the Champions League places.
The year has been a magical one for the Andalusian side, first earning Champions League qualification courtesy of their league finish in 2019/20 and then winning yet another Europa League trophy, defeating Inter in the final.
Villarreal have enjoyed a fantastic 2020/21 season to this point as well, with an unbeaten run stretching back to September seeing them sit in fifth place.
However, their visit to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan was a chastening experience and reminded them of the progress still needed.
Lucas Ocampos opened the scoring for the hosts with a penalty, whilst it was Youssef En-Nesyri who completed the scoring when he added a second.
Diego Carlos was instrumental in shutting down what has been an efficient Villarreal team, performing to his market value.
At the other end it was a tale of missed chances for Los Rojiblancos, as Sevilla could have won by three or four goals.
Carlos himself missed two free headers from set pieces, whilst Marcos Acuna also got forward from left-back with regular ease.
The victory provides Sevilla with three vital points and sets them up well for the second half of the season, whilst Villarreal need to find a way to bounce back from a rare defeat, something which will prove challenging after such a long spell without one.
