MADRID -- Several clubs and national teams were after Jorge Sampaoli when Sevilla made the surprise announcement in June that it was hiring the Argentine-born coach.He arrived amid high expectations and promised to keep Sevilla a contender in Spain and Europe. After an up-and-down start, Sampaoli is on his way to fulfilling his words.The team from Spains southern Andalusia region is in a good position to advance to the knockout stages of the Champions League. It can take the Spanish league lead on Sunday with a home win against Atletico Madrid, combined with a draw or loss by Real Madrid against Athletic Bilbao.We are doing very well, Sampaoli said. We are in a strong position in both competitions. This motivates us for whats ahead.Sampaoli, who led Chile to its first Copa America title in 2015, signed with Sevilla this season after contemplating offers from across the world. Those offers kept coming even after accepting the Sevilla job, including one from Argentinas national team about a month after Sampaoli had replaced Unai Emery. The 56-year-old Sampaoli decided to stay in Spain because it would be irresponsible to leave after such short period in charge.Sampaoli failed in the first two chances he had to succeed with Sevilla, losing the Spanish Super Cup to Barcelona and the UEFA Super Cup to Real Madrid.But things improved, and while Barcelona, Madrid and Atletico continued to attract most of the headlines with big victories, Sevilla quietly began winning important games.It has won three of its last four games in the Spanish league and sits third in the standings after eight rounds, one point behind leaders Atletico and Madrid.In the Champions League, Sevilla is tied with Juventus atop Group H with seven points from three matches. It drew against the Italian champions in the opener and picked up consecutive wins against Lyon and at Dinamo Zagreb.We have to maintain this winning mentality, Sevilla defender Sergio Escudero said. We have a good dynamic going and we have to maintain it. Its important to keep winning.In addition to facing Atletico this weekend at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, Sevilla will also host Barcelona in two weeks, as well as Juventus in the Champions League in November.Expectations are high at Sevilla, which defeated Liverpool to win its third straight Europa League title last season, but Sampaoli warned there is still a lot to improve before Sevilla can get closer to the top three teams in Spain.We will have difficulties competing against the bigger teams unless we improve when we have chances to score, he said. Its been difficult to score. If we are not decisive, we will struggle against the better teams.---Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tales-azzoni fake jerseys china . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. replica jerseys china . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot. https://www.chinajerseysreplica.us/ .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. wholesale jerseys china . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. china jerseys . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Editors note: This article was adapted from Phil Steeles college football preview magazine, which is available here.Heres a complete breakdown of thee AAC.dddddddddddd ' ' '