Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli proved the 'master of substitutions' once again on Saturday with a key switch that not only earned his side a come-from-behind win over Real Betis but boosted his reputation as one of the most wanted coaches in Europe.

Sampaoli's stock has risen sharply this season with Sevilla on track for their best league finish in eight years and on course to reach the Champions League quarters for the first time after their win over Leicester City in the last 16 first leg.

Admiration for Sampaoli is reported to extend to Barcelona, where he is thought to be one of the leading candidates to take over next season if Luis Enrique does not renew his contract.

The Argentine has also been touted in British media as a possible successor to Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

Sampaoli, who took Chile to the 2015 Copa America title, pulled another rabbit out of the hat on Saturday as his side limped in at half-time 1-0 down to local rivals Betis, who were 25 points behind them in La Liga coming into the game.

Sevilla had barely troubled their opponents in the first half at a hostile Benito Villamarin stadium but that all changed when Sampaoli replaced Franco Vazquez and Pablo Sarabia with Vicente Iborra and Wissam Ben Yedder.

Iborra immediately gave Sevilla more presence in midfield and after his 56th minute header was parried by goalie Antonio Adan, Gabriel Mercado scored on the rebound to tie it at 1-1.

The winner came through Iborra's strike 20 minutes later, and his goal was the 14th by a Sevilla player coming off the bench this season, making Sampaoli the leader in impact substitutions in Spain's top flight.

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is second with 11 goals from substitutes, while Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane has eight.

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