Copa Del Rey Match Centre: Barcelona v. Sevilla

Full-time: Barcelona 1 - 2 Sevilla

So Sevilla will leave Camp Nou and the first leg of the Copa Del Rey quarterfinal against Barcelona with the clear advantage. Sevilla were not the better side today, but they won’t care as they go back to Andalucia. Diego Capel took the lead for Sevilla in the 60th minute before Ibrahimovic equalized in the 74th. With quite the lucky break, Alvaro Negredo capitalized on a penalty for Sevilla that really should not have been. This is another example of a scoreline that does not reflect a game, as Barcelona had more chances and were disallowed perfectly good goals from Bojan Krkic and Dani Alves. The referee might be the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons at the end of tonight, as he was atrocious. Thankfully this quarterfinal has a second leg that will played at Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, so hopefully that game will determine a deserved winner. Sevilla did put in an admirable effort, and they probably deserved something from this game, but certainly not a victory. But isn’t that football?

90+4º Ibrahimovic is just a step away from Dani Alves’ excellent left-footed cross. That was probably Barcelona’s last chance.

90º Four minutes of added time. Dani Alves looks completely level as he is through from Xavi’s pass, but his chipped finish won’t count as the referee brings it back wrongly once again.

87º Chigrinsky heads from 8 yards from Xavi’s free-kick, but his effort just goes a bit high and wide.

86º Messi so close! Busquets plays him through, and the Argentine skipped over several Sevilla tackles before slotting his far-post effort just a bit wide. Messi looks up to the clouds in despair. That was a golden chance.

85º Sevilla trying to do all they can to hold on to their lead. That means possessing and time-wasting. The Barcelona fans are not happy about it.

83º Maxwell is rightfully shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Diego Capel.

81º Lolo is hobbling off injured, so Duscher will replace him.

80º Referee blows yet another call, as Dani Alves’ cross is clearly tipped behind by Palop. Should be a corner for Barcelona, but ref gives a goal kick. A frustrated Bojan earns himself a yellow card.

79º Sergio Busquets crosses it in for Xavi, who comes close with a good strike across goal from 22 yards. Just wide.

75º GOAL!!! Barcelona 1 - 2 Sevilla! A terrible, terrible, terrible penalty decision that Negredo converts. Diego Capel is dragged down by Chigrinsky, and the ref gives a penalty. The replay shows that the foul was actually not in the box. Calls not going in Barcelona’s favour today.

74º GOAL!!! Barcelona 1 - 1 Sevilla! Zlatan with a bit of vigilante justice as he rounds Palop and slots it home. Marquez played Ibra through with a great 45 yard through ball.

72º Barcelona truly robbed! Dani Alves makes a great 40 yard run to cross for Zlatan. The cross is a bit far for Zlatan, but it falls to Bojan, who strikes it first time. Bojan strike deflects off a Sevilla player and goes into the Sevilla net. A seemingly nice goal is disallowed as the ref says Ibrahimovic pushed Konko. Replay shows how terrible of a call it was.

71º Thiago now comes off for Xavi.

69º Kone now comes off for Alvaro Negredo. A straight forward for forward swap.

66º Gabriel Milito coming off for Sergio Busquets. This should shift the Barcelona formation to some sort of 3-6-1, with Zlatan the only real forward.

65º Lolo is shown a yellow card for a deliberate hand-ball. Pressure mounting on Barcelona at the moment.

64º Romaric’s swings a free-kick from 22 yards, but Pinto does well to parry over the bar.

60º GOAL!!! Barcelona 0 - 1 Sevilla! Perroti gets a cross off that deflects and falls straight to Diego Capel. Capel cooly slots his effort near post past Pinto. Nothing the Barcelona keeper could do about that one.

59º The corner falls to Pedro, who curls an effort from 18 yards into Palop’s arms.

58º Bojan shows his strength by holding off Konko and snatching a Barcelona corner.

56º Excellent defending by both sides at the moment.

53º Barcelona counter from the Sevilla corner, and Fernando Navarro hacks down Andrés Iniesta. Navarro is rightfully shown a yellow card.

52º Konko should have just put Sevilla ahead! He was clear from 10 yards out, but Pinto made himself big and came up with a spectacular save. Corner now for Sevilla.

51º The intensity of this game has dropped since the first half. Rain is pouring down, and neither team looks too happy to be on the field.

49º Navarro wins a free-kick for Sevilla from 35 yards out. Pinto does well to save the resulting effort.

46º Zlatan Ibrahimovic is coming on for Pedro. Pedro had a good first half, but maybe the Swede a much needed spark for Barca.

Half-time: Barcelona totally dominating, but lacking that final touch. The Barcelona faithful are not happy about the scoreline, and rightfully so. The half finishes with Barcelona on top of Sevilla, no one is happy with the referee at the moment. Barcelona have been better, but as with the Villarreal game on Sunday, I wouldn’t count Sevilla out of this one just yet. All it takes is one moment of brilliance for Sevilla to come out of this game with something. Diego Capel looks most likely to produce for Sevilla. That being said, Barcelona’s whole attack looks incredibly dangerous.

45º Two minutes of added time. Whistles filling Camp Nou at the moment. Messi has a chance after Iniesta plays him through, but Messi takes first time and it goes well wide. The ref calls it back as offside, but the replay shows otherwise.

42º Escude is shown a yellow for a rash challenge on Rafael Marquez. Jesus Navas is now struggling to continue.

40º Thiago is shown the yellow card for attempting a bicycle kick, but kicking Jesus Navas where it hurts. Ouch.

39º Navarro crashes into Lionel Messi. The free-kick is taken quickly, and Bojan wins Barcelona yet another corner.

34º Diego Capel finishes near post, but if offside. Kone whiffs on his effort, the ball deflects to Diego Capel who was well offside.

32º Romaric’s free-kick is blocked by the wall, but Sevilla are piling on pressure.

28º Iniesta wins Barcelona a corner after cutting up Escude with great skill. Iniesta’s corner meets Marquez near post, but Palop saves easily.

24º Messi plays Maxwell in, and a decent cross wins Barcelona a corner. Nothing comes from the corner though.

22º Dani Alves drives in a free-kick that goes low and across goal. Marquez follows up, but his effort rolls just wide for a Barcelona corner. The corner falls to Messi, who curls it near post. His effort just hits the crossbar and saves Palop from a bit of embarrassment.

21º Messi takes on three players, but Romaric takes him down from behind. From kick to Barcelona now from 30 yards. Dani Alves to take.

14º Pedro does well to beat Escude down the left flank with a sly stepover. Stylish play from the Blaugrana at the moment.

12º Iniesta with amazing dribbling to evade a few Sevilla players then set up a good Barcelona chance, which Messi scuffs high and wide. Iniesta, tonight’s captain for Barca, looks in great form.

10º Messi with a moment of magic! Gliding past four Sevilla defenders and striking a shot from 20 yards out, the Argentine’s far-post effort is well-saved by Palop. Corner Barcelona.

6º Romaric forces Pinto into a good save with a well-struck free-kick.

3º Neither side is using its true best 11, but nevertheless both sides are filled with youngsters that feel the need to prove themselves

1º And we’re off! Barcelona surely won’t be held back to back at Camp Nou. Or will they?

Lineups:

Barcelona: Pinto, Maxwell, Marquez, Milito, Alves, Chigrinsky, Iniesta (captain), Thiago, Messi, Krkic, Pedro

Subs: Valdes, Puyol, Pique, Xavi, Busquets, Henry, Ibrahimovic

Sevilla: Palop (captain), Escudé, Navarro, Lolo, Dragutinovic, Jesus Navas, Romaric, Konko, Diego Capel, Perotti, Kone

Subs: Hernandez, Cala, Redondo, Duscher, Renato, Negredo, Vazquez