FC Barcelona and Sevilla produce another thriller

There have been some truly gripping games between these sides in the last few years, but the drama of Tuesday night in Georgia topped the lot

• Only one of the last four games between Barça and Sevilla has been won by the team that scored first.

• There have been some dramatic comebacks in games between these two sides of late. In 2012/13, Barça came from behind to win both Liga encounters (3-2 in Sevilla and 2-1 at the Camp Nou); in 2013/14, Sevilla went 2-0 up but ended up losing 3-2 to an Alexis goal in injury time, and Barça won 4-1 at the Pizjuán last season after conceding the opening goal. Barça’s 5-1 win last season looked to have broken the trend, but the rematch saw the Andalusians fight back to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw.

• Eight of the Barça team that started in Tblisisi were also in the eleven that opened last season’s official calendar against Elche. The three changes were Ter Stegen, Piqué and Suárez (who was suspended at this stage of last season) coming in for Bravo, Munir and the injured Alba.

• Sevilla became the first team to score four goals against FC Barcelona since Luis Enrique became manager.

• Leo Messi has scored in the first official match of the last five seasons. He also found the net against Real Madrid (Spanish Super Cup 2011/12), Real Sociedad (Liga 2012/13), Levante (Liga 2013/14) and Elche (Liga 2014/15).

• Before Messi’s brace last night, Hristo Stoichkov was the only Barça player to have scored from a free kick in the European Super Cup. He did so against Werder Bremen at the Camp Nou in 1992.

• No Barça player has scored two free kicks in the same match since Ronaldinho converted twice versus Betis in 2007/08.

• Leo Messi has now scored 24 goals against Sevilla, who thus take over from Atlético Madrid as his favourite ‘victim’. He’s scored 23 goals against the red-and-whites.

• Busquets and Piqué won the most balls in Tbilisi, 13 and 12, respectively.

• Rafinha scored his third goal for the FC Barcelona first team. He had previously netted against Huesca in the cup and Villarreal in the league.

• Pedro’s extra time goal was his 99th as a Barça player.

• Claudio Bravo’s dream year continues. The European Super Cup is his fifth major trophy in 2015, following on from La Liga, the Champions League, the Copa del Rey and the Copa America with Chile.

Source: http://ift.tt/1MjLGL7