In a dramatic night of football, Barcelona beat Sevilla 4-2 at the Camp Nou.
Barcelona went 2-0 up inside 20 minutes and looked set to cruise to victory, but an injury to Leo Messi completely changed the momentum of the match. Suddenly Sevilla came alive and Barcelona had a real fight on their hands. They managed to prevail (drawing 2-2 without their captain) but who were the winners and losers?
Winner: Marc-André Ter Stegen
It’s often said that goalkeepers don’t get enough credit, and in the case of Marc-André Ter Stegen that is almost certainly the case. The German has been absolutely lights out for almost two years now, and last season only Leo Messi could be said to have had more of an influence over Barcelona’s improbably La Liga win.
And tonight, for the most part, Ter Stegen wasn’t called into action. Then around the hour mark, Sevilla got in and lashed a shot at Ter Stegen, it was arching over the German but he leapt up and clawed it away, then jumped straight back to his feet and palmed away the rebound. He prevented it from becoming 2-1 then, around a minute later, Luis Suárez made it 3-0.
Ter Stegen was finally beaten by a cruel deflection off his own man, making it 3-1. But with five minutes left in the match, when Sevilla had the chance to make it 3-2, once again Ter Stegen produced a miraculous double save. And then yet again, the Blaugrana march down the field and score. Rakitic made it 4-1, and there’s no stat to quantify just what Ter Stegen did in terms of the game situation, but it was huge.
There isn’t a better goalkeeper in the world right now.
Winner: Ousmane Dembélé
When Ernesto Valverde adjusted his formation to help stop Barcelona being counter-attacked to death, bringing Arthur into midfield and reverting back to his 4-4-1-1/4-3-3 hybrid shape, it was Ousmane Dembélé who missed out despite his sensational start to the season.
The Frenchman was frustrated to be dropped, and given barely any minutes off the bench even if the match was crying out for his skill-set. He looked set for a long spell on the subs bench, but then Messi got injured. And whilst it’s never good for that to happen, it opened a gap.
Dembélé now has a period of time where, due to his talent, he will become an indispensable member of the Barcelona attack. Already tonight there were signs of a truly electric understanding developing with Luis Suárez. And he should have picked up an assist for a lovely little reverse-pass for Ivan Rakitic as well. He played well until the last 15 minutes when he lost focus and started giving the ball away at will. That’s not good, but he will now have a longer run in the side to try and play even better.
Loser: Madrid and Atleti
It’s been an epic Saturday at the top of La Liga. Alavés began the day in top spot after winning 1-0 on Friday, and everyone expected Real Madrid to fire themselves top after their lunch-time kick-off vs. Levante, but instead Los Blancos lost, getting turned over 1-2.
Atlético Madrid then failed to take advantage of this slip, drawing 1-1 with Villarreal to move above Barcelona but not Sevilla. Not the best day for the sides from Madrid, but it was alright because Barcelona were going to face the red hot Sevilla who were coming off four straight wins whilst the Blaugrana had failed to win themselves for four straight.
But in the end, even Leo Messi’s injury and an in-form Sevilla couldn’t stop Barcelona from blasting their way back to the top of the league. The Blaugrana are now top of the league, one point ahead of Alavés. The Champions are back on top, will anyone knock them off?
Winner: Luis Suárez
Finally Luis Suárez scored! Alright, it was a penalty that he only took because Leo Messi was injured. And alright he missed like two or three good chances and one sitter besides that, but still… Luis Suárez scored! A huge moment for the Uruguayan who has really struggled in front of goal so far this season.
Away from goal, however, Suárez actually played very well. His work in the build-up to Barcelona’s goals was usually good, he picked up a wonderful assist for Messi’s second and produced a miracle pass to set Ousmane Dembélé away too. With Messi down for the count, Luis Suárez is now going to be Barcelona’s talisman against Inter and Real Madrid.
The last time Messi got injured in Autumn, Suárez stepped up for Barça, leading them to Champions League group stage victories as well as a resounding Clásico success. Can he do the same again? We will have to wait and see.
Winner: Inter
There are precious few sides in the world that Leo Messi has faced and not scored against. There are even less sides that he has faced more than once and not scored against, in fact there are just three. Rubin Kazan, Liverpool and Inter.
Of those three, Inter must have expected (or at least feared) that this record would tumble as they visited the Camp Nou with Messi having scored five goals in two Champions League matches so far this season. The Argentine would have been desperate to establish a Blaugrana chokehold on their Champions League group, but now he will miss the game, Inter’s record as one of the trinity of Messi deniers lives on!
Loser: El Clásico
Leo Messi started the game sensationally. After 20 minutes he already had a goal and assist (both wonderful). Then, after a tussle with where Messi was desperate to regain possession, the Argentine fell forward; understandably he put his arm out to brace his fall. That was a bad idea; his arm bent the wrong way at the elbow and Messi writhed in agony for the next few minutes before being taken off.
There’s been no further news beyond rumours, but everything points to this being a serious injury. And with the season’s first Clásico vs. Real Madrid looming large on the horizon, this is a huge blow for Barcelona but a bigger one for the match itself.
El Clásico has always billed itself as the world’s biggest match, and in general the sheer quality and star power on display lends itself to that. But now, with Madrid struggling, the match was going to be leaning on Messi’s stature more than ever – but now he’ll surely miss it.
So the match loses a superstar but more to the point it loses fun, because Leo Messi is an absolute joy to watch. He’s Barcelona’s everything, he makes them exciting to watch. Without Messi, Barça are an organised side, a group of players who are well-coached but lack a sense of hocus pocus. And that’s going to make the epic showdowns against Real Madrid a great deal less fun.
The post Barcelona 4-2 Sevilla: the winners and losers as Ter Stegen’s name rings around Camp Nou after Messi injury appeared first on Squawka News.
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