Barcelona 4-0 Sevilla
Barcelona swept Sevilla aside in the La Liga match of the weekend to go second in the table and within two points of Real Madrid at the top.
On a dramatic evening at the Camp Nou Luis Suarez opened the scoring and Leo Messi rounded things off with a trademark free-kick, but the Catalans copped for two late red cards to end up with nine men.
The visitors’ head coach Julen Lopetegui is determined to make the most of his chance at Sevilla, having lost two jobs within four months last year. His departure from the national team on the eve of the 2018 World Cup was rapidly followed by his dismissal from Real Madrid after a disastrous start at the Bernabeu.
But his side was humbled tonight by the ruthless champions, despite having plenty of chances of their own.
This has been some weekend for SBOBET football fans, with a shock defeat for Manchester City in the Premier League, a dramatic Derby d’Italia in Serie A, and this clash between two of La Liga’s most attacking sides.
In the earlier La Liga 2019 results, Atletico Madrid were held to a goalless draw away to Real Valladolid while Real Sociedad lost at home to Getafe, leaving the door open for the Blaugrana to take second place.
Highlights of the game
Luis Suarez came to Barca’s rescue with a brace against Inter Milan in midweek and he must have thought his powers have no limits as he took aim from all of 40 yards, but he couldn’t beat Tomas Vaclik. But Ter Stegen was worked harder in the Barca goal, first when Ever Banega fired a shot from distance towards the bottom corner, and then when Luuk de Jong had a shot from the middle of the penalty area.
As Sevilla continued to press Fernando headed over, and then de Jong missed from six yards when he met a Lucas Ocampos corner. The two combined again on 26 minutes and this time de Jong headed over from close range. But Sevilla’s bright start was undone when Barca went ahead. Nelson Semedo crossed to that man Suarez and this time, from around 12 yards, he made no mistake, slotting the ball into the bottom right corner.
And one became two just five minutes later when Arthur put the ball in the danger area and this time Arturo Vidal was on hand to slam the ball home.
Two became three on 35 minutes and Arthur was the provider again, this time feeding Ousmane Dembele and he shot low into the bottom corner.
Sevilla were stunned but tried to fight back, Nolito, Ocampos and de Jong all trying their luck but with no success.
The visitors didn’t know what had hit them. After dominating the early stages of the half and finishing strongly, they found themselves three down by the break.
And the Andalusians must have know it wasn’t going to be their night when De Jong hit a sweet shot on 49 minutes, but it crashed back off the post. Sergio Regulion then fired low towards the corner but Ter Stegen saved well.
Lionel Messi took a pass from Arthur and almost made it four, but Vaclik got down well to save in the corner. But the Barca skipper was not to be denied his goal. When Ocampos handled to give the hosts a free-kick within range, Messi placed his shot with customary accuracy into the top right corner and that was that.
In a bizarre end to the game Ronald Aurojo was sent off for a foul, and then Ousmane Dembele also earned a red card for protesting on behalf of his team-mate, to leave Barcelona victorious with nine men!
Key Statistics
Julen Lopetegui’s side had pretty much matched Barcelona in the first half, having eight shots to their hosts’ seven, but while they had three on target, of the Blaugrana’s four, three ended up in Vaclik’s net.
Barca ended up with eight shots on target to Sevilla’s four. The visitors did have 16 in total but the hosts’ accuracy won the day.
The Blaugrana came into this match with three league wins from four, as well as winning in the Champions League, so a relatively slow start to the season seems to be over.
What’s next?
Real Madrid continue to set the pace in La Liga after winning the top two clash against Granada 4-2, with Eden Hazard scoring his first goal for Los Blancos. But before this match kicked off the La Liga 2019 betting odds still held Barca up as odds on favourites to retain the title, and a convincing win like this means nothing changes there.
After the international break, the Catalans take a trip to face Eibar. Jose Luis Mendilibar’s team has made a steady start, sitting just below halfway, while Sevilla is at home to tenth-placed Levante; and that’s a chance for the Andalusians to get back to winning ways.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
