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Five talking points from Sevilla 0-3 Barcelona

14:48
Sevilla FC v FC Barcelona - LaLiga Santander
Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images

Xavi’s side remain unbeaten in La Liga

Kounde enjoys Sevilla return

Jules Kounde was back at Sevilla on Saturday for the first time since his summer move and was stationed once again at right-back. Ronald Araujo and Eric Garcia continued in central defense, with Alejandro Balde at left-back.

New boys Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso didn’t make the squad but will surely be involved nex time out, although the same probably can’t be said of Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba who may have to start getting used to life on the bench.

Kounde will have enjoyed his return too. He picked up his first assist for Barcelona after coming infield and plonking the ball onto Lewandowski’s chest for the second goal of the night.

Another followed at the start of the second half. Raphinha’s whipped cross in was headed back across goal by Kounde for Eric Garcia to knock home the visitors’ third and effectively end the game as a contest.

The defender could have had a goal himself too. Pedri found Kounde in acres of space in the box in stoppage time at the end of the first half but he somehow managed to head wide with just the goalkeeper to beat.

Kounde’s only played for Barcelona twice in La Liga, and both times not in his favored position, but the France international already looks one heck of a signing by the Catalan giants.

High five for Lewandowski

The goals keep on coming for Lewandowski who bagged his fifth of the campaign already with Barca’s second of the night. The Poland international controlled a ball in from Kounde beautifully on his chest before slamming past the goalkeeper.

Scoring five goals in your first four La Liga games is not easily done, with Lewandowski joining Cristiano Ronaldo and Radamel Falcao as the only players to manage the feat this century.

It was also the striker’s first goal against Sevilla after previously drawing a blank against the Andalusians. Lewandowski had faced Sevilla five times previously (twice with Dortmund and three time with Bayern) but had not managed to find the back of the net.

Lewandowski may have cost €50 million at the age of 33, which is a huge amount for an ageing player, but already looks a very sound investment indeed. The Poland international simply guarantees goals, wherever he plays, and you already get the feeling he might walk off with the Pichichi trophy at the end of the season.

Raphinha up and running for Barcelona

Raphinha was also in the goals on Saturday night and opened the scoring at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium with his first La Liga strike for his new club since joining from Leeds United this summer.

The goal came against the run of play too. Sevilla enjoyed 61% possession in the first 15 minutes and were getting in behind Barcelona for fun. If it hadn’t been for the offside flag and Marc-Andre ter Stegen the hosts could have been a couple up before Raphinha scored.

The goal was a superb bit of counter-attacking football and showed how Barca will always be a threat with the attacking talent they have in the squad after a summer of big spending.

Credit must go to Gavi for winning the ball in midfield and starting things off, Ousmane Dembele then raced forwards and fed Lewandowski on the overlap. The striker conjured up a lovely dink that almost went in but was hooked off the line and straight to Raphinha to nod home from close range.

Eric Garcia gets deserved reward

Believe it or not, there was also a goal for Eric Garcia at Sevilla. The center-back has enjoyed a superb start to the season after a tricky debut campaign with Barca that saw him heavily criticized and doubts raised over the wisdom of bringing him back to the Camp Nou.

The center-back has managed to quieten his critics so far in 2022-23 and also become one of the first names on Xavi’s teamsheet, despite the increased competition for places at the back.

Xavi went with Eric again at Sevilla and the Spain international was again impressive after a tough start. The Barca manager was spotted calling over Eric and Araujo for instructions as the players celebrated Raphinha’s opening goal and whatever he said seemed to have an effect.

Eric went on to pop up with his first ever Barcelona goal to make it 3-0. Credit must go to Raphinha and Kounde but it was a nice moment for the defender and the wide smile on his face said it all.

Barca lost Eric to injury shortly afterwards but he played down injury fears after the match and insisted he was OK which is good news for Barca. After the start to the season, he’s had, Xavi will not want to be without Garcia for long.

Gavi brings the fight to Sevilla

One player who wasn’t on the scoresheet but was key to Barca’s win was Gavi. The 18-year-old was up for the battle at Sevilla and then some on Saturday night.

We all know about the teenager’s bite and tenacity but it was on show once again on Saturday. It was easy to lose count of the key balls that Gavi won during the match and no surprise to see him named the man of the match. He was simply everywhere.

It’s hardly a surprise that Gavi was all fired up at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuain either. The midfielder grew up at Real Betis before heading to Barcelona at the age of 11 and was clearly desperate to take all three points home with him.

The 18-year-old’s performance drew plenty of praise from his manager after the game too.

“I’m not surprised about Gavi, I see him working every day in training, he’s pure character, all heart, discipline, he’s wonderful,” he said. “I don’t want to be unfair to the others but today he was the best of the match”.

He wasn’t wrong either. What a talent.



Source: barcablaugranes.com

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