Tears, joy and drama: How Barcelona outclassed Sevilla to make it to the finals.

jdeposicion
4 min readMar 5, 2021

2–0 did Barcelona lose at Sevilla in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey. Two goals were needed in regular time to take it to extra time, as long as Barcelona wouldn’t concede a single goal. These were the conditions: Expectations were mixed: If Barcelona had lost in the first leg, the Catalans took revenge in La Liga, winning 2–0 last Saturday. There was hope, but not a real confidence for Barcelona’s fans.

Sevilla, just like last Saturday, felt powerless against high-tempo oppositions. And Barcelona knew it, and did it. No changes were to be found in Koeman’s starting XI, and it’s at the 12th minute that Dembélé scored the long-range opener. One goal, and extra-time was on. Barcelona searched for the goal, but it just wouldn’t go in. Sevilla struggled against Barcelona’s organisation, leaving gaps in transitions, often exploited by the Catalans. Dominance for Barcelona, that was what Barcelona searched for and achieved. In counter-attacks, Mingueza’s excellent anticipation prevented any attack. Playing as RCB, the La Masia graduate nullified any possible threat in the wings.

Sevilla’s plan remained the same: Attempt to overcrowd the midfield, close play by lowering tempo, calm the game. Gioco piano, in short terms. And Barcelona went Gioco veloce. A constant battle between the two sides, that Barcelona won. Sevilla barely found shots to shoot, attacks to launch, threats to threaten. Busquets, positioned higher, overcame Sevilla’s press. Pedri and Messi, in between Sevilla’s defensive line/midfield, rendered dangerous passes into the final third as easy as cooking pasta. And Sevilla, on their side, found it harder than ever. With no proper winger, Lopetegui found himself stuck. The first half was over: Koeman needed a goal, and Lopetegui needed to come up with a plan.

Except that Lopetegui couldn’t find his solution. Conservatist, he betrayed himself, the team, and the club. Sevilla are known for being quite of an offensive arsenal, but none of the attack was seen from Sevilla’s side yesterday. Sevilla doesn’t have a proper wide outlet in their wingers — but Barcelona did. Sevilla’s weaknesses were Barcelona’s strengths, and Koeman’s back three solution proved to be effective. The general build-up might not seem too difference than the usual patterns the 4/3/3 provided, but the details always matter. Minor adjustments, like Dembele’s ‘free’ role, Mingueza’s introduction as RCB changes the globality of Barcelona’s play.

Yet, despite Barcelona’s dominance, Barcelona couldn’t seem to find the goal. As fluid as Barcelona’s play was fluid, the goal, the target, the Nirvana wouldn’t come. In fact, Barcelona seemed slower as minutes passed by. The clock was ticking…

But it wasn’t the end. A few subs by Koeman didn’t first seem to have a drastic effect, but they all provided adjustments: Griezmann, Ilaix and Braithwaite. And Piqué as a striker, too. Barcelona’s legendary centre-back has always had an eye for the goal. 92:00. 1–0. A goal is needed. Griezmann lifts the ball, crosses it to the centre of Sevilla’s penalty box..Piqué heads it in! At almost the last action, Barcelona equalised. Through Piqué. El Presidente had once again shown who’s the President de facto. It couldn’t have been anyone else, the perfect script.

Besides Leo, Ilaix Moriba was the other obvious shout. If the whole team played well, it was Ilaix’ introduction that made the tie even more interesting. Dominant on second balls, Ilaix is the perfect player Koeman needed at that moment: For this clash, for these minutes, I’d argue choosing Ilaix over Riqui Puig made more sense, contrary to a majority of the fan’s opinions.

Besides Braithwaite’s winner at the 100th minute, Leo Messi had been the decisive factor, especially in extra-time. And that, without ever landing on the scoresheet. Trying to accelerate play, force attacks and possibly shots would have been the ‘obvious’ idea. For a normal, or even a brilliant player. But La Pulga had other ideas in mind. Instead of simply accelerating play, Leo Messi lowered it down. For the team to settle, for control, for the good of the team: Leo altered the tempo of the team, therefore proving his dominance through him, his personality, his cold-blooded temper.

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jdeposicion

Football through a different lense, all things football.