In an overtly physical match at the Ramon Sanchez stadium in Sevilla, Barca were held to a 1-1 draw. FC Barcelona now find their lead cut down to five points off their arch rival Real Madrid. A goal from Bojan Krikic put Barca ahead in the first half but Navas equalised for Sevilla early in the second half. Guardiola lined up his best available eleven for the match. In the absence of Puyil, Pique and Abidal made the centre of defense with Adriano and Alves playing in the flying full back roles. Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi made the midfield. Messi, Villa and Pedro formed the attacking trio.
The match started slowly with both teams struggling to take the initial clutch on the game. In the 8th minute Messi won a free kick and curled it into the goal but strangely wasn't allowed due to Busquets foul inside the box. It was rather a stupid decision as Busquets hardly was holding him and they both were not anywhere in line of the free kick. In the 14th minute Pedro was taken off and was replaced by Bojan. It looked like a groin injury at the moment. Sevilla players were taking a more physical approach, fouling our players at every available oppurtunity. In the 30th minute Bojan put Barca ahead with a goal which he tried to miss a bit. Iniesta sent in a great cross spotting Alves' run, Alves squared it back to Bojan, who tried to control it never got it under controlled but was the pass was still good enough to have him and the ball in the back of net. In the 39th minute Iniesta found Villa on the right who fired high from avery tight angle. In thend minute Messi was unfortunate again to see his header hit the bar from a wonderful Xavi lobbed ball. In thth minute Bojan won a free kick at the edge of Sevilla box but this time around the keeper made a good save to deny Messi. The half ended with an injury scare to Lionel Messi, when he landed awkardly avoiding a challenge from the keeper. It was a relief to see him on his feet and he was deemed good enough to continue the rest of the match.
Sevilla brought in Kanoute after the break and he started to have a huge impact from the word go. In the 49th minute Sevilla equalised through Navas to put Barca in all sort of trouble. Pique had the job of marking Navas but forgot to do that. Sevilla came out more determined after the break and was causing all kind trouble with a rather physical approach. In the 53rd minute we had a huge scare when Negrado fired high from a greta position after we lost the ball following a Capel foul on BUsquets. In the 68th minute Messi went in a crazy little run taking on three defender but Medel did well to clear the final shot. In the 73rd minute Bojan had a penalty shout after Navas brought him down in the box, but the referee wasn't convinced. In the 75th minute Valdes made a great save off Navas with his legs after Perotti run around Pique quite easily. Guardiola immediately took off Adriano adn brought in Maxwell. In the 78th minute Kanoute had a great chance to put Sevilla ahead, luckily for us he shot wide. Once again its Perotti who was making a amockery of Alves and Pique to create those chances. In the 80th minute Valdes almost spilled a Kanoute shot intohis own goal. In the 82nd minute Bojan send in a great cross to the centre but Messi couldn't get the final touch. Guardiola took off an off colour Villa a brought in Keita in the 85th minute. In the 86th minute Iniesta hit the bar from a shot from outside the box. In the 91st minute Messi had a shot blocked and Iniesta's shot from the rebound was cleared off the line.
In the end this has to be considered as a precious point gained than two points lost for us. We are still five points clear off Real Madrid and that is a huge lead. We were the second best team for most of teh time in the second half. Pique and Busquets had nightmare after Kanoute came in. Alves' overlapping run meant Pique was exposed at every oppurtunity. Our midfield wasn't given any space by the Sevilla midfield. Any other referee woudl have seen a number of their players being send off but this guy allowed for a very physical match. Bojan who came in for Pedro put own a decent show. Messi dropped deep to help Iniesta and Xavi but none of them were at their best. Villa had a forgetful night For me Abidal was the best player for us on the pitch. In the end we had to admit that both the teams gave their everything out their and a draw was a very fair result. We have away games againt Villareal, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Levante and Malaga coming up in the coming fixtures. But then Real Madrid have to visit Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Sevilla and Villareal in the same period.
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