A nightmare week for Barcelona continued with a crushing 4-1 defeat away to Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium on Sunday, as the reigning Spanish champions lost their chance to reclaim the top spot in the La Liga table from arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Sevilla dominated from the outset, taking a two-goal lead in the first half and adding two more in the second half. Barcelona had hinted at a comeback when they pulled one back right before halftime, but a series of missed opportunities left them frustrated.
Just three days earlier, the Catalan had suffered their first defeat of the season — to PSG in the Champions League. Now, their unbeaten La Liga run has also come to an end in Seville.
Barca coach Hansi Flick was forced to rotate his squad heavily for this match, with key players such as Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Fermin Lopez, Gavi, and goalkeeper Joan Garcia sidelined due to injuries.
Sevilla immediately showcased their strength after kickoff, and the visitors suffered an early setback just 13 minutes into the match.
Barça captain Ronald Araújo fouled Sevilla’s Isaac Romero two minutes earlier — an incident initially overlooked by the referee. However, following a VAR review, the decision was overturned and a penalty awarded. Former Barcelona forward Alexis Sánchez stepped up, sending Wojciech Szczęsny the wrong way to give Sevilla the lead.
Sevilla continued to press aggressively, and Romero could have had a hat-trick had he finished several of his promising chances. During this spell, Szczęsny was kept extremely busy, making crucial saves to prevent further damage.
In the 36th minute, however, the Polish keeper was helpless, as Sevilla launched a swift counterattack. This time, Romero found the back of the net, and doubled his team’s advantage.
Barcelona created a couple of clear opportunities just before the halftime, but Marcus Rashford failed to capitalize despite facing the goalkeeper one-on-one, while Robert Lewandowski’s acrobatic attempt narrowly missed the target.
In added time, the Catalans finally pulled one back through a brilliant combination between Pedri and Rashford. Pedri sent a long, flying pass to the opposite direction, just outside the box, and Rashford finished it off with a superb first-time strike.
At the start of the second half, Flick reshuffled his defense, bringing on Eric Garcia and Alejandro Balde for the struggling Araújo and Gerard Martin.
Sevilla nearly restored their two-goal cushion in the 55th minute, but Barça managed to clear the danger. The hosts appealed for a penalty soon after when Balde’s wrist was struck by the ball, though VAR ruled it accidental.
Eric Garcia came close to equalizing for Barcelona in the 65th minute, but his powerful header was brilliantly saved by the Sevilla goalkeeper.
Barcelona began to control possession from the 70th minute and piled pressure on Sevilla’s defense. Their persistence earned them a penalty four minutes later when Adnan Januzaj brought down Balde inside the box. However, Lewandowski failed to convert, his shot missing by inches.
Substitute Roony Bardghji almost equalized in the 81st minute with a spectacular solo effort, but his attempt was denied by the Sevilla keeper.
After all these, the Sevilla-show started once again. Three minutes before the 90th, Akor Adams appeared to make it 3–1 for the home side, but his goal was ruled offside. Moments later, Sevilla struck again on a counterattack — José Ángel Carmona beat Szczęsny to seal the victory, sending the home crowd into raptures.
Barcelona got eight long minutes of stoppage time for redemption, but it was Sevilla who scored another goal, and completed a memorable 4–1 triumph. It was the biggest win for the Andalusian club against Barcelona since 2002. Commentators fittingly described it as “a week of nightmare” for the Catalan giants.
With this defeat, Barcelona remained second in the table with 19 points from eight matches, after Real Madrid had reclaimed the top spot with 21 points from their 8 games with a 3–1 win over Villarreal on Saturday. Sevilla climbed to fourth with 13 points from the same number of games.
-UNB
