Sevilla 2-0 Barcelona: A foot and a half out of the cup
The Catalans struggled at the Sanchez Pizjuan and Rakitic was on target
Suddenly, it all feels fragile again. Barcelona are not out of the Copa del Rey but they aren’t far from it either.
Two Samuel Umtiti errors and two Sevilla goals, including one from ex-Blaugrana man Ivan Rakitic, leaves the team hanging by a thread ahead of the second leg at Camp Nou.
The French defender had a nightmare but the team’s performance was weak as a whole.
Bono made a good early save from Messi but that was all Barcelona mustered in attack before Sevilla broke the deadlock.
It came from an unlikely source: defender Jules Kounde. And the style of it was even more surprising. This was no header from corner, typical centre back effort. It was a fine dribble, past Griezmann, Busquets and Umtiti, before finishing coolly. Those three should have picked the Frenchman’s pocket, but take nothing away from his effort.
Bono pulled off a couple more saves from Messi but it wasn’t a good display from Barca and they didn’t make a many clear openings.
Sevilla, by contrast, were impressive. From the keeper to the striker and not forgetting Kounde. Julen Lopetegui has them well drilled.
Let’s see if Barca can do any better in the return…
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