A recap of Barcelona's win on Sunday night courtesy of goals from Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué.
It is well publicised that Barcelona are on this historic run of unbeaten games but what is less talked about is that it was Sevilla who were the last team to best the Catalans. That defeat, which was way back in October, was a turning point for Barça and one which has seen them create an impressive lead at the top of the league table.
| Barcelona | Sevilla |
|
| Possession | 68% | 32% |
| Total Shots | 17 | 11 |
| Shots on Target | 8 | 4 |
| Corners | 6 | 7 |
| Fouls | 13 | 10 |
| Offsides | 2 | 0 |
| Yellow Cards | 3 | 2 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
Atlético Madrid's victory in the Madrid derby on Saturday meant that if Barça got the win, they would maintain an eight point lead at the summit of La Liga. But it would be no easy game despite Sevilla's inability to win away this season.
After a run of a game every three or four days, Luis Enrique finally elected to rotate his squad. Swapping out Andrés Iniesta, Javier Mascherano, Ivan Rakitić and Dani Alves but it was business as usual in the opening exchanges with Barcelona seeing plenty of the ball. Sergio Busquets was performing exquisitely in the centre of the field but there was a risk of a counterattack through the pace of Kevin Gamiero and it was the visitors who had the first chance. A head down from Steven N'Zonzi allowed Timothée Kolodziejczak a sight at goal but the centre back could only lift the ball over the bar.
At the other end, Luis Suárez got his first sniff of goal after being played in by Aleix Vidal but the Uruguayan, at a tight angle, could only fire the ball at keeper Sergio Rico. However from the resultant corner, Barça again came close. Lionel Messi whipped in a ball close to the goal which forced Coke to get a head on it. The defender's touch saw the ball ricochet onto the post before falling to Suárez. The striker then cannoned a shot off of the bar to continue Barcelona's recent post problems.
It was a chance wasted and meant with twenty minutes gone, Sevilla had a chance to take the lead. Barcelona were playing a high line which allowed Michael Krohn-Dehli to run into space behind. Benoît Trémoulinas cut inside him and as he received the ball he found Vitolo at the far post. The Spaniard calmly placed the ball into the net with a side foot but the marking was poor from Barça's left, leaving Vitolo with all time in the world to finish.
The unbeaten record was under threat but the man who has so often dug Barcelona out of holes, stepped up again. It was a free kick won after Suárez was taken down just outside the area and both Messi and Neymar stood over it. But it looked a little too close to get up and over the wall. Instead Messi elected to fizz the ball over to the goalie's side. Rico could get no where the near the effort as it travelled at pace into the inside netting of the goal.
The hosts were level and the goal was a turning point in the game as Sevilla were unwilling to risk leaving men forward. A brief chance for Messi was all the notable action left in the half as the whistle blew at 1-1.
There has been a trend of Barça starting the second half of games at a lightning pace and this game was no different. Barcelona were immediately on top and with 48 minutes gone, they were ahead. Messi linked well with his strike partner Suárez, receiving the ball before giving it back to them. Suárez then produced a half shot/half cross effort that fell to centre back turned centre forward Gerard Piqué. It was a tap in for the Barça number three as he passed the ball into the net.
Now that Barcelona had the lead, Enrique looked to obtain domination in the game and brought the experienced Iniesta and Alves into the fray. The former, who had a new haircut that made him look surprisingly similar to Javier Mascherano, was quick to get on the ball and boost Barcelona's possession stats. Barça began to take control of the game but with just a single goal lead, there was always the worry of a Sevilla equaliser.
With fifteen minutes to go, it looked as if Barça's congested fixture list was beginning to catch up with them. The away side were looking the brighter and Barcelona were struggling to keep hold of the ball. N'Zonzi required a last ditch Sergio Busquets tackle to prevent him from scoring and a late free kick conceded by Piqué had the potential to hurt Barça.
Despite the scares in the final minutes, Barcelona did manage to hold onto the narrow lead and in doing so, compete a full round of fixtures unbeaten.
| Roll Call Info | |
|---|---|
| Total comments | 523 |
| Total commenters | 49 |
| Commenter list | Anders Thomassen, Anirudh_Kul, AzBlaug, BDBarca, Barca4ever, Cule4life, Delano Heerkens, Dick Darlington, ElasticFan, GreyGhostIniesta, JordanBelfort, JordiBalboa, KiwiBarca, Lapulga, MayteeA, Messidependencia!!!, Naman_Mehra, NamesTroyResideInTheDMV, Patty Mills for three.. BANG, Piyush_, R19, Ruy Diaz, ShantanuC, Skand_08, Steven Cordero, TheGodfather21, Tokjee, Trifitology, VarmaFCB, Willis1984, Yuro_Doosh, avyator, clarify7, dewoul, el_uruguayo, feeya7, footballfordoze, godnkls, hacastillot, hdp78, henderick.mitchell, ikool, kuni95, messism, mightyobie, msalmanz, saltylures, syredeathtrooper, waseem10 |
| Story URLs | |
| # | Commenter | # Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trifitology | 63 |
| 2 | Anders Thomassen | 38 |
| 3 | Willis1984 | 34 |
| 4 | dewoul | 31 |
| 5 | JordanBelfort | 30 |
| 6 | ShantanuC | 26 |
| 7 | Dick Darlington | 25 |
| 8 | syredeathtrooper | 25 |
| 9 | BDBarca | 25 |
| 10 | footballfordoze | 23 |
| 11 | Delano Heerkens | 22 |
| 12 | NamesTroyResideInTheDMV | 21 |
| 13 | Piyush_ | 18 |
| 14 | mightyobie | 11 |
| 15 | KiwiBarca | 10 |
| 16 | avyator | 9 |
| 17 | MayteeA | 9 |
| 18 | el_uruguayo | 9 |
| 19 | TheGodfather21 | 8 |
| 20 | feeya7 | 7 |
| 21 | VarmaFCB | 7 |
| 22 | AzBlaug | 6 |
| 23 | hacastillot | 6 |
| 24 | godnkls | 6 |
| 25 | Steven Cordero | 6 |
| 26 | kuni95 | 5 |
| 27 | hdp78 | 4 |
| 28 | Tokjee | 3 |
| 29 | Ruy Diaz | 3 |
| 30 | Barca4ever | 3 |
| 31 | Anirudh_Kul | 3 |
| 32 | msalmanz | 3 |
| 33 | Yuro_Doosh | 3 |
| 34 | ElasticFan | 2 |
| 35 | R19 | 2 |
| 36 | GreyGhostIniesta | 2 |
| 37 | saltylures | 2 |
| 38 | Skand_08 | 2 |
| 39 | Cule4life | 1 |
| 40 | henderick.mitchell | 1 |
| 41 | waseem10 | 1 |
| 42 | JordiBalboa | 1 |
| 43 | Lapulga | 1 |
| 44 | ikool | 1 |
| 45 | clarify7 | 1 |
| 46 | messism | 1 |
| 47 | Messidependencia!!! | 1 |
| 48 | Naman_Mehra | 1 |
| 49 | Patty Mills for three.. BANG | 1 |
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