Barcelona vs Sevilla, UEFA Super Cup 2015: Final Score 5-4 as Blaugranes Win Wild Game

The favorites Barcelona have won the UEFA Super Cup, but don't think for one second it was easy. In one of the wildest games of all time, the Blaugrana beat their La Liga rivals in overtime, with a game-winning goal from Pedro Rodríguez, to secure their fourth trophy of 2015 with an unforgettable 5-4 win.

FIRST HALF

The first 15 minutes were electric. Javier Mascherano fouled (?) Reyes, and Ever Banega opened the score with a beautiful free-kick that turned Ter Stegen into a statue as the ball went through the net. One three minutes later, Barça got back into the game. Suárez was fouled in the edge of the box, and Lionel Messi placed the ball beautifully into the near corner, as goalkeeper Beto tried to fly into the ball but found himself at the back of the net as well.

Shortly after the equalizer, Messi scored another spectacular free-kick, and with the advantage on the scoreboard, Barça began to dominate. Sevilla did not come even close to a dangerous chance until the 40^th minute, when Dani Alves had to make a goal-line clearance. When the Rojiblancos tried to advance their lines into Barça's half, a Rakitic long ball ignited a counter-attack; Luis Suárez at first wasted a chance kicking the ball right at the goalkeeper, but the Uruguayn then nutmegged his defender to find Rafinha Alcântara for the third goal, ending a total dominant half by the Blaugrana.

SECOND HALF

Coming back from the interval, it was all about risk management. It was everything BUT that.

Five minutes into the second half, Sergio Busquets recovered a ball close to the box, and gave it to Suárez, who bagged the fourth score. It looked like it was over, but then the team completely imploded. A terrible Jérémy Mathieu 10-minute spell which included a botched headed clearance and a dumb penalty led to Sevilla scoring twice to bring the lead to just one goal.

Smelling blood, Unai Emery sent his team in search of the equalizing goal. Luis Enrique countered by subbing Sergi Roberto and Marc Bartra into the game to add more defensive security. Which didn't work, and after another defensive mistake, Konoplyanka stunned the world and tied the game with 10 minutes to go.

Barça went to work looking to avoid a disaster a try to finish the game without needing overtime, and while Messi went ridiculously close with a free-kick that hit the post in the last minute, the regulation ended 4-4.

OVERTIME

After recovering from the sheer shock of letting go of a 4-1 lead, Enrique decided to return to the original scheme, subbing Pedro on for Mascherano. The Blaugrana, while incredibily exhausted, went back to dominating the match, pinning the Seville side on its own half and calmy trying to create something through Messi and Rakitic. Emery put ten men behind the ball and hoped for a counter-attack, which never happened in the first extra period.

The second half followed the same script, and near the end of the game, something strangely amazing happened. Messi shot a free-kick to the wall, tried again on the rebound, and as goalkeeper Beto couldn't secure the ball, Pedro Rodríguez, possibly playing his last game in a Blaugrana uniform, did what he always does: scored a deciding goal in a final.

Barça ultimately survived the last efforts from the Rojiblancos, winning one of the wildest games you'll ever see.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Dani Alves, Piqué, Mascherano (Pedro), Mathieu; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta (Roberto); Messi, Suárez, Rafinha (Bartra)

Goals: Messi (7', 16'), Rafinha (44'), Suárez (52'), Pedro (115')

Sevilla: Beto; Coke, Rami, Krychowiak, Tremoulinas; Krohn-Dehli, Banega; Reyes (Konoplyanka), Iborra (Mariano), Vitolo; Gameiro (Immobile)

Goals: Banega (3'), Reyes (57'), Gameiro (72' p), Konoplyanka (81')

Source: Renato Goncalves http://ift.tt/1IXdDTB