Barcelona beat Sevilla 2-0 on Saturday to edge past Real Madrid in the LaLiga 2020-21 points tally to occupy the No 2 spot. This was also a big win for Barcelona as Sevilla had defeated them a fortnight back in the Copa Del Rey semi-final first-leg match. The two sides will lock horns again in the second leg on Wednesday and with this LaLiga win – they would fancy their chances despite trailing 0-2.
The early minutes of the match were intense. Time and again Messi and Dembele threatened the Sevilla defense. But the break came in form of Ousmane Dembele – who opened the scoring in the 29th-minute of the match. It was a stunning strike as he had to dribble past many Sevilla legs. The constant threat of the Barca frontline forced Sevilla to play foul on a number of occasions. The Barcelona backline was not tested a lot in the first half.
The second half started and Barcelona kept pressing for goals by creating chances. Initially, Jordi Alba couldn’t get to a cross from Frenkie De Jong, then Sergiño Dest hit the post, and finally, Messi missed a chance after a dream run by Dembele. On a number of occasions, they came close but not close enough. One has to admit that the Sevilla backline did a good job to keep Barcelona down to two goals.
Finally, just when it seemed that both teams have settled for a 1-0 result, Barcelona skipper stepped it up and found the target in the 85th-minute of the match to seal the game. It was a right-footed shot from a close range that did it for the Argentine icon.
The win would also help Barcelona forget their recent Champions League loss to PSG 4-1. Barcelona would now look to regain confidence before heading into the all-important second-leg.