Barcelona stay resilient despite Messi injury setback - FC Barcelona vs Sevilla - Match Analysis

Barcelona stay resilient despite Messi injury setback

FC Barcelona vs Sevilla - Match Analysis – LaLiga  - Oct 20, 2018

During a weekend when Alaves were on top of the league table thanks to their win over Celta, Real Madrid dropped points with their loss to Levante and Atletico were held by Villarreal, Barcelona took on Sevilla at the Camp Nou. A win could propel either teams to the top and Barca was under pressure to perform after their recent outings in La Liga which were not up to the mark. It was touted as the game which could give the high-flying Sevilla a huge boost. 

It started off on the wrong foot for Sevilla as their perennial tormentor Lionel Messi did what he usually does against them. Lenglet and Arthur started for Barcelona. Semedo, Messi and Suarez combined to create a lovely move which saw Messi slice the Sevilla defense with a neat pass that was finished in style by Coutinho. FC Barcelona were up 1-0 within the first 5 minutes.

Barcelona’s defense survived a scare when Arana’s screamer hit the post. Meanwhile Alba and Messi combined as usual but Messi’s final shot was blocked. Then came a wonderful ball from Suarez that saw Messi score with a perfect, low, curling effort to make it 2-0.

Everything was going smoothly till Messi had an awkward fall and his arm hit the ground at a weird angle. Sadly Messi had to be withdrawn due to the arm injury (which had been diagnosed as a fracture and he has been ruled out for at least 3-4 weeks).

Dembele (!) came in for Leo.  He did create an impact with his quick runs but his finishing and his decision making was dodgy. While the misfiring Suarez fluffed a clear chance, he was creating more impact as the playmaker giving a lovely pass to Dembele which the young Frenchman failed to capitalize.

At half time the score was 2-0 in favor of Barca. Arthur was impressive in the midfield and was involved in many good moves. Sevilla were not smart enough to make use of the 10 minutes when Barcelona were down to 10 men due to the injury to Messi.

After Messi was forced off, Sevilla could have attacked more. But they were too stunned by the initial setbacks. They lacked the courage to go forward, when Barcelona were forced to reorganize due to the injury to Messi.

The 2^nd half saw both the teams come out with different strategies. Led by the talented Sarabia, Sevilla were more attack minded while Barcelona were happy to sit back and counter when the chances came their way.

Barcelona’s defensive woes continued as Sevilla were able to break them apart regularly. Ter Stegen, who was rarely tested till then, made a superb double save as his defensive unit seemed to melt away.

While Semedo was not great at the back, he gave a much-improved performance moving forward. Lenglet, though solid, needs more time to gel in with Pique and his antics. Pique badly needs a break With Vermaelen (whose injuries never seem to end) and Umtiti both injured, Pique is the only option for Valverde which could prove to be a costly one.

Luis Suarez was frustrated as his shots were off target.  But he kept working tirelessly, contributing in every way possible and was rewarded for his hard work. Suarez was brought down by the Sevilla goalkeeper Vaclik and earned a penalty which the Uruguayan emphatically converted to put Barca on the driver’s seat.

Sergi Roberto (coming back from an injury) came in as the substitute for Arthur, which was a baffling change as both Busquets and Rakitic needed the rest more than the youngster. But it did give Roberto the chance to play in his favored position.

For all the good work he had put in, Sarabia managed to score a goal as his shot was deflected by Lenglet (he seems to be deflecting too many) into the net around the 80^th minute. With 10 minutes to go Sevilla  saw a glimmer of hope as they pressed harder.

Soon Ter Stegen was forced into action. The flying German did incredibly well to come up with another double save. First he deflected the powerful shot of Sarabia and was instantly up to stave off Yedder’s try from the rebound. If not for the heroics of Super Stegen, the scoreline would have been very different.

Barcelona’s counter attack ended with Dembele firing a shot at goal which was blocked. But the rebound came back perfectly to Rakitic who got into one of his signature low volley which rocketed into the goal to make it 4-2 for Barcelona. The Croatian as always, sportingly refused to celebrate against his former club which was a great gesture.  

Towards the fag end of the game, Sevilla got a consolation goal through Muriel who was given the space and time by the Barcelona defense. The game ended with Barca winning 4-2.

Thanks to a strong mid field performance, Barcelona managed to overcome the setback of Messi’s injury. But the defense remains a huge problem and Valverde has to work out a solution at the earliest.

While Coutinho, Arthur, Busquets and Rakitic stepped it up, Luis Suarez did fantastically well as a play-maker. But the Man of the Match would have to go to the wonderful Ter Stegen whose timely and courageous saves earned Barcelona 3 points which placed them on top of the league table for now.

Things would be tougher as the UCL matches and El Clasico loom ahead. Without their talismanic Captain for about a month, its going to be testing times for the team that is finding it hard to get into a rhythm. At least for now the mid field looks good. Roberto coming back into the team is great news. Hope Malcom gets some playing time as well.

Would like to see Munir play more often as striker with Luis Suarez taking up the playmaker cum striker role. Dembele still doesn’t look to be good enough to be given regular playing time. 

I truly hope Valverde makes use of the La Masia youngsters who are at his disposal in both defense and offense.

Most of all Football will be badly missing the magic of Messi for alteast a month. Hope he comes back stronger. 

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