Recap
This is a special occasion for Cracovia, as the match forms part of the celebrations marking the club’s 120th anniversary. It will be played at Cracovia’s home stadium and represents one of the main events of the anniversary program, meaning the hosts should approach the fixture with considerably more motivation and seriousness than an ordinary pre-season friendly.
Cracovia are also significantly further ahead in their preparations. They returned to training on 22 June, completed an intensive training camp in Austria and have already played three friendly matches. As a result, they should be closer to competitive condition, with better tactical cohesion and a higher level of physical readiness.
Sevilla, on the other hand, are still at a very early stage of their pre-season preparations. They only held their first full training session on 6 July, and this will be just their second friendly of the summer. Their squad situation is also far from ideal, with a mixed team expected to travel to Poland and significantly fewer senior players available compared to last season.
Sevilla will be without 15 players who featured for the club last season:
❌ Gudelj (34/2) – left
❌ Sow (33/5)
❌ Adams (32/10)
❌ Juanlu (32/0)
❌ Alexis Sánchez (28/4) – left
❌ Mendy (27/1)
❌ Vargas (24/3)
❌ Castrín (19/1)
❌ Azpilicueta (17/0) – left
❌ Marcão (13/0)
❌ Maupay (12/2) – left
❌ Nianzou (12/0) – left
❌ Nyland (5/0) – left
❌ Cardoso (4/0)
❌ Jordan (3/0)
Their first friendly also highlighted their lack of rhythm. Sevilla struggled against lower-league Torremolinos and eventually secured only a narrow 1-0 victory, with the decisive goal arriving in the second half.
The match between the two teams is therefore significant. Cracovia are much further along in their preparation, will play in front of their own supporters during a major anniversary celebration and should be more motivated than usual. Sevilla, meanwhile, are still building their fitness and cohesion while travelling with a heavily rotated squad.