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Three talking points from Sevilla 1-4 Barcelona

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Sevilla FC v FC Barcelona - La Liga EA Sports
Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images

A great win

Barca back in title business

Barcelona’s win over Sevilla means Hansi Flick’s side have the title back in their own hands after moving to within two points of Real Madrid.

The Catalans had let slip a six-point advantage at the top of the table towards the end of last year but now know if they win all their remaining games they will be champions.

There’s still a long way to go of course and it’s unlikely they will be perfect in every game, but then neither will Real Madrid or Atletico, you would suspect, given how this season has gone so far.

What we do know is that this was one game that Barcelona had to win after seeing their rivals draw on Saturday and win they did. The Catalans also won by scoring another four goals and have now netted 64 times in just 23 La Liga matches.

Flick’s attack remains utterly lethal, with Robert Lewandowski on target on his return and Raphinha now up to 24 goals and 13 assists in just 35 matches this season.

Even Eric Garcia is getting in on the act at this point, too. The 24-year-old looks a different player under Flick and finished off the win with his third goal of the season.

Fermin Lopez from hero to zero

A key aspect of Sunday’s win was Flick’s decision to bring on Fermin at half-time. Off went Gavi, who had been booked and appeared to be nursing a knock, and on came Lopez to make an instant impact.

Flick did have other options, most notably Dani Olmo, but went for the in-form Fermin and it proved an inspired choice. Well, kinda.

Fermin’s first action of the match was to head home Pedri’s dinked ball into the box for his fifth goal of the season in all competitions.

Yet Fermin’s evening quickly went from triumph to disaster. With just over an hour on the clock he went flying into a challenge and saw his yellow card upgraded to a red after a VAR review.

And he can’t really have any complaints. It was a reckless (and fairly needless) challenge that was always going to end in a sending off once the referee had been sent to the screen.

That’s now Barcelona third red card of the season and means Fermin - who really did change the game and who has been in superb form - is now set to miss the clash with Rayo next up.

Mixed fortunes for Araujo and De Jong

Sunday’s match was also a tough night for Ronald Araujo. The defender suffered an ankle injury and now looks set to be missing for a few weeks, in another setback for the Uruguayan.

Araujo has already missed the first four months of the season though injury and will now have to battle for his place in the starting XI all over again when he returns from his latest injury,

And that’s not going to be at all easy. Araujo just does not seem to be quite as comfortable with Hansi Flick’s high line as Cubarsi and Martinez and is going to have to sit and watch those two rekindle their partnership again now.

Sevilla FC v FC Barcelona - La Liga EA Sports Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images

Meanwhile, it’s a different story entirely for De Jong who does appear to have played his way back into the starting XI under Flick after also missing a large chunk of the campaign with a serious injury.

De Jong had lost his place to Marc Casado but the Dutchman has now started ahead of his young team-mate in the last four matches.

Flick has shown this season he has no problem making big selection calls, just ask Ansu Fati and Inaki Pena, and it seems he’s made another in midfield in favour of De Jong.



Source: barcablaugranes.com

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