Barcelona delighted Real Madrid with a draw in Seville
Sevilla and Barcelona finished 1: 1 in a postponed match of the 4th round of La Liga, of which the big winner is Real Madrid. If successful, the hosts would be only 3 points closer to the leader in an equal number of matches, but in the end "Los Blancos" will celebrate the New Year with an advance of at least 5 points, because they have another meeting. The Catalans missed the chance to catch up with the fourth and are only seventh so far.
Both goals fell after corners, with Alejandro Gomez scoring for the hosts in the 32nd minute, and in the 45th Ronald Araujo equalized. From the 64th minute, Sevilla were left with one less man after a red card from Jules Kunde. However, Barça never managed to succeed, as they did not create many situations with a numerical advantage. Gavi missed once, after which Usman Dembele hit a crossbar.
The guests made a strong first half, in which they controlled the ball in 69% of the time, but Sevilla scored with his only shot in the goal line. In the second half, the hosts performed at a higher level, although in most of it there were 10 people. Heavy rain poured over the stadium for a long time, which made it difficult for both teams.
Yulen Lopetegui put Rafa Mir at the top of the attack, with Argentines Papu Gomez and Lucas Ocampos helping him most often. Former Barça midfielder Ivan Rakitic was also a starter and even wore the ribbon.
The coach of the guests Xavi Hernandez again bet on a large number of young players. Abde, Usman Dembele and Fran Jutgla tooked the attacking positions, and Gerard Pique returned to defense at the expense of Clement Langle.
The guests positioned themselves high in the half of Sevilla from the very beginning, trying to quickly win the ball. Ferran Jutgla made the first shot - in the 8th minute with a header, but the ball went out. However, the hosts managed to take the ball out and in the 11th minute the Barça captain Sergio Busquets was easily missed and was forced to commit a foul, for which he received a yellow card. This is his fifth and he will be penalized for the match with Mallorca on January 2.
Francos header in the 14 th minute ended with a header, but the shot was weak and the goalkeeper Yassin Bunu had no problem catching the ball. The players in white accepted the role to defend, but in the 22nd minute Rafa Mir was brought out alone against the goalkeeper and sent the ball into the net, but a goal was not correctly counted due to an ambush.
Usman Dembele showed up after the first half hour, when he shot with his left foot and the Sevilla guard had a problem taming the ball due to the flooded terrain, but no goal was scored.
Sevilla struck in the 32nd minute when Alejandro Gomez scored for 1: 0. Papu then completed a learned corner kick, sending the ball through a bunch of players in the bottom right corner of Ter Stegen.
However, Los Coules were not embarrassed and continued to be more active. Deservedly, Xavi's boys reached an equalizer, which happened seconds before the break. Then Araujo jumped high and intercepted a cross from a corner kick - 1: 1.
Sevilla started the second half much more aggressively, but failed to threaten the opponent. There were no serious situations in front of either door for some time.
It was interesting in the 64th minute, when the otherwise calm match was highlighted in red. Then Jordi Alba pushed Jules Kunde with his chest near the weave, whereupon the Frenchman hit him with the ball on the head and was immediately sent off.
Both coaches bet on shifts only after the 70th minute. Nico Gonzalez appeared for Barça, who brought the 3: 2 victory over Elche in the previous round. Meanwhile, Gavi was decorated in yellow, which is why he is "burning" for the next meeting of the Catalans.
It was Gavi who missed a great chance for a second goal in the 81st minute, when he missed the goal from a few meters with his head. In the 84th minute Dembele hit the crossbar.
In the last minutes, Lopetegui's team lined up at the door as a militia, and for Barça in the role of central strikers were Pique and the incoming Luke de Jong. The Dutchman hit once with his head, but did not threaten the goalkeeper. At the last possible second, Jordi Alaba kicked hard on the ground, but this time Bunu intervened.
These were the last matches for both teams, and the competition in La Liga for them resumes on the second day after the New Year.
