Barcelona has won an away game in LaLiga for the sixth time in a row on Saturday. Thanks to goals from Ousmane Dembéle and Lionel Messi, the team of trainer Ronald Koeman was too strong for competitor Sevilla with 0-2, which now has a duel less and is five points behind the Catalans. Barcelona, in turn, has only two points less than Atlético Madrid, but the leader still has two games to choose from. The damper on the victory was the injury injury at Barcelona in the second half. On Wednesday, the teams will meet again in the second semifinal of the Copa del Rey, in the Camp Nou.
Barcelona, which started in a 5-3-2 formation (Óscar Mingueza, Gerard Piqué and Clément Lenglet as the three central defenders and Sergiño Dest and Jordi Alba as the fullbacks), was the somewhat better team in the first 45 minutes, but at the same time Koeman’s team could hardly cause any danger in Yassine Bounou’s goal area. Yet after 29 minutes the 0-1 appeared on the scoreboard. After a failed heel from Fernando, Sergio Busquets recaptured the ball and handed it in to Lionel Messi, who in turn launched Dembélé. The attacker could no longer be overtaken by Diego Carlos and shot the ball under Bounou, who was passed for the first time since 568 minutes.
Ousmane Dembélé! ?? “It’s out of there like a missile” – @jennifer Barça 0-1 at Sevilla thanks to a very ‘deep’ assist from Messi ???#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #SevillaBarca pic.twitter.com/kiAor5jFRV
– Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) February 27, 2021
Sevilla, where Marcos Acuña and Luis Ocampos were missing due to injuries, also barely managed to reach the enemy target area. Marc-André ter Stegen, who suffered from his right hand in the warm up, had a quiet first half. Just before time, the players of Sevilla and Lopetegui also fiercely asked for a second yellow card for Messi after a charge on Jules Koundé, but Alejandro Hernández Hernández did not want that. The referee had yellowed Messi two minutes earlier for a foul on Fernando and ultimately opted to throw the protesting Lopetegui on the ticket.
Lopetegui changed the Sevilla team in three places after the break: Alejandro Papu Gómez, Munir El Haddadi and Diego Carlos stepped out in favor of Youssed En-Nesyri, Suso and Karim Rekik. However, the desired effect was not forthcoming, as Barcelona’s 0-2 was much more in the air than the equalizer. Alba was millimeters short in the 52nd minute to silver a cross by Frenkie de Jong and seven minutes later a powerful bet by Dest even ended on the post. A commitment by Messi, after preparatory work by Dembélé, was about Bounou’s goal.
Messi – no … Messi – yesaaaaa! ?? The Argentinian deals the final blow ?? The preparation may also be there ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga # SevillaBarça pic.twitter.com/Bht5ja7LgL
– Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) February 27, 2021
For Luuk de Jong and Ivan Rakitic, the game was over after 62 minutes: the pair were replaced by Óscar and Óliver Torres. On the other hand, Koeman’s substitutions were necessary: both Gerard Piqué and Pedri had to be replaced injured. Ronald Araújo thus made his return after less than three weeks, but the defender lasted less than fifteen minutes and had to be replaced by Samuel Umtiti. Sevilla did not get further than a rejected goal due to hands by En-Nesyri and got a second goal against in the final minutes. Messi made his way towards Bounou’s goal, who was able to turn the Argentinian’s first attempt but was then passed afterwards.