Sevilla 0-2 Barcelona: 5 hits and flops as Lionel Messi's wizardry guides Catalans to a huge win | La Liga 2020-21
Barcelona reduced the arrears at the top of the table to just two points after seeing off Sevilla 2-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in La Liga.
Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi were on target for the visitors as the Blaugrana secured a morale-boosting victory ahead of a crucial league cup tie against the Andalusians.
Having lost 2-0 on their last visit here, Ronaldo Koeman's side had revenge on their minds and made their intentions clear with a dominant performance.
The hosts couldn't replicate their heroics from two weeks ago as they struggled to create many clear-cut opportunities and were largely second best to Barcelona in the game.
Here are the hits and flops from the match:
Hit: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Another game, another outstanding performance from Lionel Messi, who was involved in both goals, scoring and assisting once each.
He set up Dembele with a sublime through ball, slicing through Sevilla's defense like a knife through butter, before adding the finishing touches late on.
The Barcelona skipper slalomed past a stream of white shirts inside the box, and after seeing his initial effort parried by Bono, latched onto the loose ball and tapped it into an empty net.
Messi didn't see much of the ball in the match but, when in possession, he was dangerous, threading excellent passes to start counters and tying defenders in knots with his mazy dribbles.
Another man-of-the-match performance from the man himself!
Flop: Alejandro Gomez (Sevilla)
It might sound harsh to pick on someone who's just a few games in with his new club, but 'Papu' Gomez was truly below his best tonight.
The former Atalanta wizard, who joined the Andalusians earlier this month, looked clueless tonight, failing to create anything on the ball and showing little commitment off it.
In fact, he made some of the least touches by any outfield player during the first 45 minutes of the game and failed to muster a single effort at Barcelona's goal, prompting Lopetegui to sub him off at the break.
If you had been following him in Serie A, then you may know what an amazing player he is, just that Gomez may need some more time to settle into the side completely.