Barcelona 3-0 Sevilla: The trident dismantle Sampaoli's side in perfect game
Luis Suarez opened the scoring and Lionel Messi notched the next two as the hosts ran riot
Barcelona went back to 3-4-3 after reverting to 4-3-3 against Granada on Sunday, and it paid off
The perfect game. Barcelona took Sevilla to pieces in the first half as the MSN connected brilliantly, scoring three goals in nine minutes.
Then in the second they sat back, saving themselves for the challenges ahead. And there are challenges. Two games against Juventus, the Clasico and a Catalan derby for good measure.
In the first half Barcelona were as good as they have been all season. Lionel Messi, back from suspension—both in La Liga and internationally—started as he meant to go on.
The Argentine No 10 wrapped a shot against the crossbar in the fourth minute, a warning to Jorge Sampaoli and his men.
Steven N’Zonzi hit back, although too close to Marc-Andre ter Stegen to beat him, after he stole in ahead of Javier Mascherano.
Luis Suarez wanted a penalty when he was tugged back by Nico Pareja in the area, but Clos Gomes waved away his appeal.
It didn’t matter. The Uruguayan was on the scoresheet a few minutes later, pulling off a sensational overhead kick after Messi’s cross was intercepted with the ball bouncing up into the air.
He turned provider for Messi three minutes later, reaching Neymar’s cross and cutting it back for Messi to drill home.
Messi had another out of the blue, with the ball half-cleared, dropping out of the sky, and he met it sweetly, smashing a volley past Sergio Rico and into the bottom corner.
It was a lethal first half display and from there, Barcelona had few worries. They restricted Sevilla to efforts from distance, seeing the game out to go top of La Liga. At least until Madrid finish playing…
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