There are days that help measure the ambition of a team and there are also games that serve to gauge the sensitivity of a club, very few in which both coincide, as happened at the Camp Nou before the visit of Sevilla. The night invited a sustained event for Barcelona for the defeat of Madrid in Mallorca and for the death of Josep Maria Espinàs, co-author with Jaume Picas of the Cant del Barça, the FC Barcelona anthem since 1974, with music by Manuel Valls. The answer was unequivocal: Barça won with authority on the field and in the stands a sense was kept and also too short a minute of silence for Espinàs.
3
Ter Stegen, A. Christensen, Koundé, Ronald Araújo (Marcos Alonso, min. 80), Alba (Alex Balde, min. 83), Frenkie De Jong, Busquets (Kessié Franck, min. 8), Pedri, Lewandowski, Gavi ( Ansu Fati, min. 79) and Raphinha (Ferrán Torres, min. 83)
0
Bono, Rekik, Marcos Acuña (Lucas Ocampos, min. 65), Montiel, Loic Bade, Gudelj, Óliver Torres (Bryan Gil Salvatierra, min. 45), Joan Jordán, Pape Alassane Gueye (Fernando, min. 83), Rakitic and En-Nesyri (Lamela, min. 45)
goals 1-0 min. 58: Dawn. 2-0 min. 70: Gavi. 3-0 min. 78: Raphine.
Referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez
yellow cards Rakitic (min. 46) and Joan Jordán (min. 75)
The Barça anthem is far from epic and warmongering and, on the contrary, embraces solidarity and serenity from a moving and grateful rhythm for an acoustic like that of the Camp Nou. The players followed the tempo of Espinàs to thrash a mean team like Sevilla. Although the match seemed difficult, and even more so after losing to Busquets, the Barcelona fans persevered until they scored three goals and distanced Madrid by eight points. Nothing was heard from Sevilla, which has gone 20 years without winning at the Barça stadium, once again surrendered and defeated in a contest led by Raphinha.
The match was played on the Sevilla court. Sampaoli did not pay attention to the Barça line-up nor did Busquets’ injury condition him. The coach arranged a line of five defenders and five midfielders to deny Barça any space. The motto was to cover Bono’s goal, a reliable goalkeeper, and shoot the transition every time he stole the ball to try to surprise an opponent upset by the fall of his captain, who was replaced as soon as the game began after he doubled the ankle in a tackle with En-Nesyri.
The Barça team, in any case, did not have too much trouble reaching finishing positions or forcing a series of corner kicks that elevated Araujo. The center-back’s head threatened both Bono and Lewandowski’s shots. The goalkeeper reacted wonderfully to the two shots from the very active center forward, while the Uruguayan narrowly missed a header that came off to the right of Sevilla’s goal. Even Gudelj was about to surprise his partner Bono. Barça’s offense lacked precision and imbalance due to Raphinha’s shyness in the absence of Dembélé.
Although there was a good time of football, especially due to the intensity, Barça gradually lost fluidity because Kessié is not exactly Busquets. Pedri joined De Jong in the navel of the field while Gavi swept the attack front from the left to the penalty spot in a team deployed from three center backs (3-4-3). The contest faded away due to Barcelona’s limitations and Sevilla’s containment plan. Barça, dominating and persevering, was missing a passer and perhaps also a different striker to unleash the dwarfed Sevilla.
He had not overflowed in Xavi’s team, Pedri had not just appeared either and there were many doubts about the role of Kessié. The Barca coach, however, did not touch anything at halftime, because the pressure was continuous and the pace sustained so that Sevilla could not leave their area despite the fact that they had gained speed with Sampaoli’s changes.
The goal came in the most surprising way because of Kessié’s spin and touch in the area after receiving from Raphinha. At the wheel, a technical gesture typical of Pedri was not assumed, which enabled Alba’s left-footed cross to the left of Bono. The play forced to change to Sevilla. Nobody knew very well what Sampaoli wanted nor Jordan. The midfielder spent a long time trying to decipher the cheat sheet that Ocampos had given him from the Sevilla coach. Sevilla’s confusion culminated in the 2-0. Koundé deepened for Raphinha’s run and the Brazilian crossed for Gavi’s arrival.
Raphinha was decisive in the 1-0, assistant in the 2-0 and author of the 3-0. Frenkie de Jong played for Jordi Alba and the center of the side was finished off by the Brazilian, who has assumed offensive responsibility after Dembélé’s injury. There were no defensive concessions on the Barça side that would allow a frightened Sevilla to attest to life. The Andalusians try to escape from the tail while Barça climbs to the top with a compact and solvent football at the start of the second round of La Liga. The day demanded a victory due to Madrid’s defeat and Espinàs’ goodbye, and Barça responded with greatness and gratitude at the Camp Nou.
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