Sevilla 1-1 Barcelona: Two points dropped but a positive night
The Catalans could have won the game with Ousmane Dembele hitting the post late on
In a way, Barcelona might look at this game as two points dropped because they were playing against 10 men in the final 25 minutes, but in another, it was another positive step in the Xavi Hernandez reign.
It was a match which saw the team play bravely against a tough opponent in Sevilla, with the kind of impressive display badly lacking in the first half of the season thus far.
Xavi’s side were on top, looking confident and using the same side that beat Elche at the weekend, bar Gerard Pique returning for Clement Lenglet.
However, they fell behind at a corner. It was a clever routine with Papu Gomez escaping Ez Abde to tuck home a low near post effort.
Barcelona didn’t lower their heads and were level just before half-time, with Ronald Araujo heading home powerfully from a Dembele corner at the other end.
The second half started slower, perhaps as the players tired, but was fired up by Jordi Alba, who barged Jules Kounde. The Sevilla defender reacted by angrily throwing the ball at Alba’s head, striking him, and seeing red.
Barcelona dominated after that, with Sevilla only appearing to take pot-shots and hacks at the Catalans as the game became spiky.
Dembele curled a fine effort against the post but that was as close as Xavi and his men came to the three points.
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