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Bengaluru United Head Coach Fernando Varela recently visited Sevilla FC in Spain as part of the agreement between the Bengaluru-based club and their international partner. Varela, who spent 4 days (February 28 – March 2) in Sevilla, visited the Sevilla FC Academy, attended their training session and was a keen observer at the Academy games. Apart from participating in the 1st team training sessions, he also got the opportunity to watch the Sevilla FC v Real Sociedad LaLiga game.
The five-year international partnership between FC Bengaluru United and Sevilla FC commenced in January 2021 and as part of the agreement, Sevilla FC would work towards helping FC Bengaluru United with all its footballing expertise and knowledge through knowledge transfer sessions. Following the launch of the Sevilla Cup in June 2022, Varela’s trip marked another important step within the framework of the collaborative agreement between the two clubs.
“It was a privilege to watch the first team training and see the quality of players like Sergio Ramos, Jesus Navas, Lucas Ocampo, Isaac, Suso, Acuña and Lamela, etc,” Varela said. “It was also a pleasure to meet Head Coach Quique Sanchez Flores – we exchanged ideas and shared our experiences of how fascinating it is to work abroad.”
“I value how Sevilla FC works as a whole, the communication between the different departments of the club and the good atmosphere. The harmony and coordination of the departments intrinsically favour the development of all the players and the continuous training of the coaches,” he said.
Varela was also impressed with the way the Sevilla FC Academy focused on player analysis, tracking the progression of each player. “They have a detailed system of identifying strengths and weaknesses, which helps to keep the focus on how players can develop in all aspects of training. This in turn helps them identify the outstanding players who are likely to be potential picks for the first team in the future.”
“Sevilla FC are one of the giants in Spanish football,” said Gaurav Manchanda, Owner, FC Bengaluru United. “We view them as our ‘big brother’ and one of the key goals of our partnership has been to tap into their expertise and knowledge and use that to enhance our Academy program and boost the 1st team performance. I am confident that this trip would have helped Varela glean tremendous insight into the workings of both the Sevilla FC first team and their Academy and I look forward to seeing these learnings being put to effective use across our FCBU team and the UPFS Academy.”
FC Bengaluru United are currently table toppers in the ongoing I League 2 and play their next game on March 23 against Maharashtra Oranje FC.
