Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
Barcelona suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Sevilla during Saturday's La Liga action, marking a big setback in their bid to defend their Spanish title.
Michael Krohn-Dehli and Vicente Iborra scored twice in quick succession to give the hosts the lead early in the second half, and whileNeymar was able to pull a goal back from the penalty spot, Sevilla's defence held firm despite tremendous pressure from the Catalans.
Barcelona certainly deserved at least a draw based on the incredible amount of chances they mustered, but once again, Lionel Messi's absence was clearly felt in front of goal. The Catalans' finishing was woeful, and it cost them.
The club took to Twitter to highlight just how many chances they created:
As shared by Bleacher Report UK's Karl Matchett, Claudio Bravo returned to the starting XI for the visitors, with Marc-Ander ter Stegen showing too little during his absence:
Munir El Haddadi was also given the nod over Sandro Ramirez, who looked unconvincing in the Catalans' 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in midweek.
From the opening whistle, Barcelona came out with attacking intentions. It took just minutes for Neymar to draw the first save from Sergio Rico Gonzalez, who did well to handle the sliding shot.
The Blaugrana were all over the Sevilla defence, but similar to their midweek performance, the forwards' finishing once again proved wasteful.
Munir had time to place a volley in the back of the net but wildly missed the target, to the disbelief of Ivan Rakitic, who somehow managed to find the Spaniard near the penalty spot.
Miguel Angel Morenatti/Associated Press
On the other side of the pitch, Bravo was tested a first time by KevinGameiro, who headed a ball across goal after a corner kick. The hosts' best chances all seemed to come from set pieces, and GrzegorzKrychowiak was the next man to threaten Bravo's goal, heading the ball just wide of the post.
All of Barcelona's chances seemed to come through Neymar, who did an excellent job dropping back into midfield and putting pressure on the defence by running at them. One particular piece of skill stood out, as the Brazilian turned two players inside-out with one spin.
La Liga blogger Rafael Hernandez was impressed:
Krychowiak saw a yellow card when he was forced to apply the handbrake on a counter, bringing down Rakitic, but the battle in midfield was fairly balanced, and Sevilla certainly had their chances.
Krohn-Dehli beautifully lifted the ball to Gameiro, who should have scored but decided to round Bravo instead of shoot, allowing the stopper to make a play.
Luis Suarez had a goal called back for offside―correctly―before Barcelona nearly scored on one of the most absurd set pieces of the young season. Neymar managed to hit the post twice with one shot, which bounced off Rico and rolled across the goal line. Gerard Pique came within inches of barging it over the line, and Suarez hit the post in the follow-up.
Author Sid Lowe couldn't believe the ball didn't cross the line:
Suarez missed yet another shot after some great work from Rakitic, the Uruguayan clearly struggling to get going, but Krychowiak couldn't do any better with his head, nodding a ball wide of the goal after a cross fromKrohn-Dehli.
Sergi Roberto made a big impression on the defensive end with a number of key blocks, but the Catalans continued to struggle on the other side of the pitch. Suarez again tried his luck with a lovely curler, beating everyone and everything but the post.
At half-time, the score was still 0-0, but as shared by Lowe, the match was anything but boring:
The second half started similarly to the first, with both teams pushing forward looking for a goal. Krohn-Dehli nearly sent Gameiro through on goal with a wonderful pass, only to realise the forward had wandered offside.
Neymar then took too much time on the ball before shooting at the opposite end, allowing Marco Andreolli to make a superb stop.
Krohn-Dehli eventually found the breakthrough, as he was left unmarked at the far post following a great run from Gameiro. The Frenchman played in a low cross, and Krohn-Dehli didn't miss from close range.
As shared by ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan, Roberto was nowhere to be found:
Suddenly, Sevilla were unleashed. Krohn-Dehli, the best man on the pitch by some distance, nearly repaid Gameiro for his fine work on the goal with an assist of his own. It was only a matter of time until Sevilla notched their second, as minutes later, the Dane lofted a ball for Iborra, who was played onside by Jeremy Mathieu.
Goal's Ben Hayward liked coach Unai Emery's chances of finally getting past the Blaugrana at this point:
Sevilla goalkeeper Rico was having himself quite a day, twice denyingNeymar in the following minutes as desperation time seemed to kick in early for the Blaugrana.
Manager Luis Enrique made a number of substitutions, including introducing full-back Dani Alves, but the pressure on the Sevilla defence remained limited.
Out of nowhere, Barcelona's luck changed, however. The official somehow decided to hand the visitors a penalty for a perceived handball from Benoit Tremoulinas, even though the Sevilla man had the ball fired into him from maybe three yards out, had his arm close to his chest and wasn't even fully in the penalty area.
Think Football didn't like the decision one bit:
Neymar didn't care about the nature of the penalty and easily converted, giving life back to the Catalan side.
Substitute Sandro Ramirez nearly brought his side level after a great run from Suarez, but once again, the post stood in the visitors' way.
The Blaugrana continued to push for an equaliser, but chances were few, and when they did get a good look on goal, Rico was there to come to Sevilla's rescue every time.
A late free-kick from Rakitic came to nothing, allowing the hosts to clear their lines and celebrate a famous victory. Sevilla have endured a nightmare start to the season, but a big win over the defending champions is exactly what Emery's men needed.
Barcelona have now lost two of their first seven matches, and rivals Real Madrid will have the chance to pass them in the standings with a win over neighbours Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
The Catalans will look to bounce back when they host Rayo Vallecano next Saturday, while Sevilla will travel to the Basque Country to take on Eibar.
No comments:
Post a Comment