Barcelona 4-0 Sevilla: Recap

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What a victory!

Barcelona go into the international break with three straight wins in La Liga and four in all competitions thanks to a great 4-0 victory over Sevilla at Camp Nou. The Blaugrana had to survive a fast start from the visitors, but a devastating 10-minute stretch in the first half gave Barça a big win and ensured they’ll finish the second month of the season in second place just two points behind leaders Real Madrid.

FIRST HALF

Things looked veyr bad early on for Barça thanks to a fantastic start by Sevilla, who pressed high up the pitch and created big chances with their quickness on the wings, and if not for one amazing Marc-André ter Stegen save and two awful misses against an open net, Luuk De Jong would have had a first half hat-trick.

Instead Sevilla conceded three times, and the goals came quick: in a span of 9 minutes, a Luis Suárez bicycle kick, a smart Arturo Vidal finish to a gorgeous Arthur assist and a sweet Ousmane Dembélé move and strike made it 3-0 for Barça and pretty much ended the contest as the Rojiblancos looked stunned and ready to go home.

At halftime, Barça had to weather a big storm but took their chances and had the lead. Now it was all about finishing the job.

SECOND HALF

There wasn’t much action in the second half as Sevilla tried really hard to score at least once but ran into a very solid Barça defense who just dealt with any danger and gave the ball to the three forwards who tried to find the fourth goal to kill the game for good. For a long time nothing happened in the game, and then Lionel Messi scored a beautiful free-kick to make it 4-0, score another goal in his career against Sevilla and end the match for good.

The ending was ugly for Barça as Ronald Araujo was sent off on his debut for denying a clear and obvious goal-scoring opportunity and Ousmane Dembélé was given a straight red for allegedly offending the referee, but a 9-man Barça survived the final few minutes and confirmed a big win with a clean sheet.

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Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Todibo (Araujo 72’), Piqué, Semedo; Vidal (Rakitic 69’), De Jong, Arthur (Busquets 64’); Messi, Suárez, Dembélé

Goals: Suárez (27’), Vidal (32’), Dembélé (35’), Messi (78’)

Red Cards: Araujo (87’), Dembélé (88’)

Sevilla: Vaclik; Navas, D. Carlos, Carriço, Reguilón; Banega, Fernando, Torres (Jordán 45’); Ocampos, De Jong (Chicharito 64’), Nolito (Munir 45’)

Goals: None

Source: barcablaugranes.com