Barcelona's victory over Sevilla took them to top of La Liga table, but Lionel Messi injury completely dampens the spirit.
FC Barcelona - 4 | Sevilla FC - 2
Barcelona Football Club regained the top spot in the La Liga table with a quite amazing 4-2 victory over the then first placed Sevilla FC. But the victory mattered less at the moment as everyone was concerned about only one thing - Lionel Messi injury. Messi's night ended in just 17 minutes after getting injured, but by then he had scored once and assisted the other.
The very fact that Messi scripted this victory in just the first few minutes in the match shows his impact on Barca this season. Now with him injured and destined to miss the Clasico, the odds of Barca's victory in 'El Clasico' has come down substantially as per www.novibet.co.uk.
Lionel Messi will be Out for Three Weeks
FC Barcelona club has confirmed the extent of Messi's injury and he will be missing three weeks of action. That three weeks could be extremely crucial for Barca, as a number of the high profile match are awaiting Barcelona. He will be missing the two Group stage matches against Inter Milan, suddenly our comfortable position in the Champions League looks not so comfortable!
❗ [INJURY NEWS] Tests carried out on the first team player Leo Messi have confirmed that he has a fracture of the radial bone in his right arm. He will be out for approximately three weeks. #FuerzaLeo pic.twitter.com/kpNcspnfqo
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 20, 2018
Then we have the 'El Clasico' next week, which suddenly looks so balanced, despite Real Madrid struggling to win in recent matches. Without Lionel Messi, Barcelona's effectiveness comes down by a sizable measure and that was in witness during last night's match. There were two different versions of Barca - One which was dominating the proceeding against Sevilla and other which was looking to counter-attack against Sevilla. And the difference between the two was the presence of Lionel Messi.
Barcelona with Messi Terrorize Sevilla in Opening Exchange
This match was supposed to a be a tricky encounter for Barcelona. So did everyone thought. But it appeared, it was equally a tricky one for Sevilla too. Maybe finding themselves at the top of the League brought a different kind of pressure and we saw a Sevilla side which wasn't as organized as they usually are. And a lot of credit should go to Barcelona for that.
Talent does what it can; genius does what it must. Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
Barcelona took the lead in the 2nd minute of the match when Sevilla FC switched off in defense for a second, maybe half of that. But that was enough for Messi to spot an opener and he threaded a great ball to Coutinho who put Barca ahead. That goal rattled Sevilla so much that they looked completely unbalanced from then on.
But it wasn't one-way traffic as Sevilla still rattled us with every foray forward. In the 6th minute, Guilherme Arana struck the far post beating Ter Stegan. Then in the 12th minute, Messi doubled the lead when Sevilla gifted the ball to Saurez. Saurez, who has become the best assist partner for Messi, released Messi down the right, who cut inside and send the ball to the far corner past the keeper.
Then in the 17th minute the moment Barcelona fans will dread for some time arrived - Messi getting injured. At first, it looked like a normal foul, but the fact that Messi was rolling in pain send alarm bells across the Camp Nou; especially considering he is not one who will do any kind of theatrics. He was taken off and Dembele came in 27th minute.
Lionel Messi's departure saw Barca struggling to Control the Match
It was a different affair without Messi and there was something missing from the team especially in offense. But the two-goal cushion was a brilliant advantage to have and our boys smartly looked to play on the counter. Despite the offensive strength in this match, Barcelona's defense looked as susceptible like in previous matches. It was waiting for just one ball to get completely destroyed.
For some reason, Sevilla failed to lift the tempo and that suited Barcelona a lot. The rest of the game went with both teams trying to gain control of the match. It took Sevilla sometime before they start to create serious threats and it came mostly in the second half. Unfortunately for them, Ter SDtegan was in some kind of inspired form when they created serious threats.
In the 63rd minute, Saurez won a penalty soon after Ter Stegan produced an out of the World twin save to keep the scoreline unchanged. Saurez who was struggling for goals recently converted the penalty to take Barcelona 3-0 ahead in the match. Then in the 79th minute, Ter Stegan was finally beaten in the match when a wicked deflection off Lenglet gave Sevilla their fir goal in the match.
Then in the 88th minute, Rakitic increased the lead to 4-1 before Muriel reduced the deficit in the injury time. Overall it was a good performance, especially considering the trouble we had in winning in recent matches in the League. The defense looked very vulnerable throughout the match, but still was doing enough.
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