Sevilla 1-2 Barcelona: Five talking points from the Spanish Supercup
Barcelona pull up the curtains on the new season with a 2-1 win over Sevilla in a single-legged Spanish Supercup tie in Tangiers, Morocco.
In a tightly-contested match, the Rojiblancos went ahead inside nine minutes through Pablo Sarabia as the VAR, making its debut in Spanish football this term, overruled the offside decision. The Blaugrana looked disjointed for large spells of the first-half, but fortuitously levelled proceedings through Gerard Pique when the defender latched on to a rebound off Lionel Messi's freekick.
Ousmane Dembélé then struck the winner in the final quarter with a stunning volley that hit the underside of the bar before crashing into the bottom corner. Barcelona picked up an unprecedented 13th Supercup trophy to start off the 2018/19 campaign on a positive note.
The major talking points:
#1 Messi kicks-off his captaincy with another blinder
He may not have got on the scoresheet, but Lionel Messi was in the thick of the things, orchestrating the win. Barcelona's captain for the new season was all fired up for the curtain-raiser and made a telling contribution even without ever hitting the net. He skilfully evaded his markers to get into good positions and strung together some silky passes that his teammates let go begging.
Even then though, he was directly involved in both of his side's goals as he first struck a freekick that cannoned back off the upright and Pique was on hand to nudge it into an empty net, before feeding Dembélé on the right while the Frenchman applied the finishing touch with aplomb.
Messi wasn't a part of Barcelona's pre-season tour in the US owing to his extended break after the World Cup commitments, but his performance today - easy on the eye - made it look like he was never absent. That's the extent of his brilliance we're taking about.
On a day when Barcelona blew hot and cold in the attack, Messi was the beacon of light and energy as he went on to lift his 33rd trophy with the club to become the most decorated player in its history.