Ronald Koeman: Barça's mentality was the key to beating Sevilla

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman won the tactical battle against Sevilla counterpart Julen Lopetegui on Saturday as his side won 2-0 at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi scored the goals as Barça dominated from start to finish thanks to Koeman's decision to switch to three at the back.

"We changed the system, above all to try and press Sevilla well, as we did throughout the game," Koeman said. "We didn't let them rest."

Koeman added: "The team showed great ambition. We were good with the ball, but the mentality during the 95 minutes was the key to winning the game today."

Barça move on to 53 points, two behind league leaders Atletico Madrid, although they have now played two games more than Diego Simeone's side.

Dembele, fed by Messi, opened the scoring in the 29th minute and gave Barça room to breathe: "With the change of system, we were also looking for Dembele's pace combined with the passes from Leo and the midfielders. The first goal was what we wanted."

Next objective: Copa del Rey

A 2-0 win on Wednesday at Camp Nou would take Barça's Copa del Rey semifinal against Sevilla to extra-time after Lopetegui'e side won the first leg by the same scoreline.

Is a comeback possible?

"Of course we believe," Koeman said. "That's our mentality, but Wednesday's game will be different because they will analyst the mistakes they made. But yes, of course, we have a chance.

"I don't want to give more importance to the Copa game. We have to win and we have to fight. We will try to stay in all competitions until the end."

The win over Sevilla was tainted by knocks to three players, Gerard Pique, Pedri and Ronald Araujo.

"We have to wait and see about the injuries, we still don't know," Koeman said. "But despite the changes we had to make we kepy the same rhythm because we have a deep squad that doesn't get annoyed (when not playing)."

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