BARCELONA: Sevilla announced the appointment of Pablo Machin as their coach on Monday on a two-year contract. Machin, 43, guided Girona to 10th place in their first La Liga campaign, capping a successful spell with the team he took over in 2014. “With his characteristic 3-5-2 system and a notable approach to set-pieces, Machin has created his own stamp which he’ll now try to use to strengthen a team settled in Europe and designed to fight for the biggest prizes,” Sevilla said in a statement. Italian Vincenzo Montella, who led Sevilla to the Champions League quarter-finals, was sacked in April after they lost 5-0 to Barcelona in the King’s Cup final. Joaquin Caparros was reappointed on an interim basis and steered the Andalusians into Europe with a seventh-place La Liga finish, before accepting a role as director of football. Machin was forced to retire as a player at the age of 23 with Numancia but soon moved into coaching, taking over at his home-town team before joining Girona. Published in Daily Times, May 30th 2018.