How Nasri's foolishness, Sampaoli's lack of composure condemned Sevilla

"Samir we need you," ran the headline in Spanish sports daily Marca. The authors were speaking on behalf of Sevilla. A once brilliant season was at risk of going awry, the Nervionenses’ domestic title challenge fading after consecutive draws against Alaves and Leganes. This just at the moment when they were also preparing for a Champions League last-16 second leg against Leicester.

Against the seductive backdrop of the Foxes’ first Champions League campaign, it was easy to forget how rare such occasions have been in Sevilla’s history. Only once had the Spanish club reached the quarter-finals of this competition - 60 years ago, back when it was still known as the European Cup.

Of course, Sevilla had enjoyed rather more success in the Europa League - winning the last three editions. But this was hardly a battle of novices against nobility. As another Marca article rather delightfully put it: "Even mortals get tired of eating ham. Now [Sevilla] want to taste the caviar of this sport."

One member of the first-team squad was accustomed to doing so. Between stints at Arsenal, Manchester City, Marseille and now Sevilla, Samir Nasri had made 58 previous appearances in this competition.

Deployed in central midfield for the first leg, he would move forward here into the No. 10 role. The message from manager Jorge Sampaoli was as clear as that newspaper headline: Sevilla was placing its trust in Nasri’s experience to guide the club through to the next round.

Were it not for the sharp reflexes of Kasper Schmeichel then perhaps he would have done so. There were barely three minutes gone when Nasri took a pass from Pablo Sarabia, danced around Wes Morgan and fired a vicious shot in towards the near post. The goalkeeper thrust a hand out in time to push it behind for a corner.

It was the first of a handful of Sliding Doors moments at the King Power Stadium. Leicester had been trailing 2-1 from the first leg, but instead of falling further behind wound up taking an away goals lead after Morgan bundled home in the 27th minute.

Then, early in the second-half, Sevilla struck the underside of the crossbar through Sergio Escudero. Less than 100 seconds later, Marc Albrighton made it 2-0 to Leicester on the night, and 3-2 on aggregate.

Plenty of time still remained.

One Sevilla goal would have been enough to force extra-time. This was the moment for Nasri to step up and show the leadership that his team required. Instead, he did the opposite, allowing himself to be drawn into the most obvious of traps.

Already booked for a needless swipe of the boot at Wilfred Ndidi early in the first-half, Nasri refused to let that discourage him from squaring up to Jamie Vardy after the Leicester player gave him a shove in the 74th minute. The pair went forehead to forehead, before the Englishman recoiled as though he had been butted.

Related: Vardy goads Nasri, gets him sent off for 'head-butt'

It was a disingenuous act from Vardy, but that could not excuse Nasri’s foolishness getting involved in the first place. Both players were booked, which for the Frenchman meant a red card. This mere moments after Sevilla had put together one of its best moves of the match - carving Leicester open down the right before Schmeichel produced another sharp save to deny Joaquin Correa.

Nasri’s dismissal did not kill his team’s chances completely. Sevilla still had time to win a penalty, and then for Steven N’Zonzi to waste it with a tame effort that the Dane easily smothered. But that was the only shot on target the Spanish side could muster in the 20 minutes (stoppage time included) that remained.

Related - Watch: Schmeichel thwarts late Sevilla penalty, sends Leicester through

As the full-time whistle went and Leicester celebrated its own historic triumph, it was hard to escape the sensation that this Sevilla team has become a master of self-sabotage under Sampaoli. He too was sent from the sideline before the end - just as he had been during the group stage defeat at home to Juventus.

Sevilla was 1-0 up and in total control of that fixture last November, before Franco Vazquez collected two bookings in the space of five minutes. Gabriel Mercado then gave away a penalty on the stroke of half-time. Juventus went on to win the game, and subsequently the group. The Italian club was rewarded with a last-16 tie against Porto - the team that finished behind Leicester in Group G.

Nasri alone must bear responsibility for his recklessness on Tuesday. But the groundwork for this failure of leadership had been laid a long while before.