Ansu Fati did not score, as was customary at the start of LaLiga, decisive against Villarreal and Celta, nor did Messi's goal arrive, 37 in 40 games against Sevilla.
Barça could not defeat the Nervión team, more done and consistent than Barça, and nevertheless, unable to win at the Camp Nou since 2002. The game was theirs and at times the victory was closer than Barcelona.
The merit of the Catalans was, after all, not losing to Sevilla.
It is no longer a fragile team and, based on effort and solidarity, it fights with rivals of the integrity of the one who trains Lopetegui.
Not only did he not give up but he never left a very difficult game and even had enough chances to knock Bono down, the last two of Messi, stepped on in the area by Diego Carlos.
Accustomed to the most demanding matches, winning against Inter in the Europa League and capable of taking Bayern Munich to extra time in the Super Cup, Sevilla started out at Barça.
The Catalans conceded two consecutive corners, both taken short, and also two easy shots in the heart of the area, the last caught by De Jong's left-hander.
Neto took the first goal in the championship and for the first time Barça was behind on the scoreboard: 0-1.
In the absence of football, the Barça players were entrusted to a manual play to reach the tie: Messi deepened for Jordi Alba, Jesús Navas put his foot badly in the cut and inadvertently assisted Coutinho: 1-1.
BCN
one
-
one
SEV
BarcelonaNeto, Ronald Araújo, Alba (Sergino Dest, min. 74), Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Ansu Fati (Pedri, min. 60), Griezmann (Trincão, min. 60), Busquets, Coutinho (Pjanić, min. 74), Frenkie De Jong and MessiSevilla Bounou, Jesús Navas, Jules Koundé, Marcos Acuña, Diego Carlos, Joan Jordán (Óliver Torres, min. 84), Fernando, Rakitic (Gudelj, min. 77), Luuk de Jong (Carlos Fernández, min. 83 ), Lucas Ocampos (Youssef En-Nesyri, min. 60) and Suso (Munir, min. 60)
Goals0-1 min.
7: Luuk de Jong.
1-1 min.
9: Coutinho.
Referee Jesús Gil Manzano Yellow cards Pjanić (min. 76) and Gudelj (min. 86)
The goal did not change the script of the Camp Nou game.
Sevilla had the ball, a very canchero team, well organized and worked, superior in possession and in direct duels, full of team players, well placed Fernando and omnipresent Jordán.
It was difficult for Barça to find Messi, Ansu Fati did not intervene enough and, nevertheless, he did not lack a shot, very ready for the recovery and for the selective transitions, poorly defined by Griezmann.
The weak point of the Catalans was more in the medullary than in the areas, ordered in theirs and direct in the opposite, too permeable instead in the area of the double pivot: De Jong-Busquets.
Although the team seems designed to assume more prominence, the Dutchman has not just mixed with Busquets and is repetitive in the losses, a circumstance that forces Coutinho and Messi to retreat.
The solvency of the Sevilla centrals made it difficult for the Argentine to maneuver and misplaced the Brazilian, the best of Barcelona.
The azulgrana is today a faster team on the legs than on the feet, it no longer necessarily gathers around the pass but is compressed through pressure, often less delicate, fine and precise and instead faster, vertical and solid in The league.
Few occasions
Competitiveness prevails over style exercises because identity is assumed to be ensured by the presence of its standard bearers: the captain and the coach, Messi and Koeman.
The value of Barcelona was in the end that they held on to Sevilla in a much more complicated clash than the previous ones against Villarreal and Celta.
The constant, if anything, was the lack of success by Griezmann, as laborious without the ball as he was wrong in the touch and blunted in the shot, imprecise or reduced by the goalkeeper Bono.
The races of the tips were the only way that Barcelona found to get out of the high pressure of Seville.
The fate of a stressful game was at the mercy of the changes, foreseeable in the case of Barça, left over as Griezmann seems.
En-Nesyri had the shot on goal on two occasions, when the Catalans were most busted, relieved after Koeman intervened again.
The coach's hand managed to reverse the situation and his team ended up aiming at Sevilla's goal with Messi's peephole and a hand-in-hand from Trincão that Bono took out.
Fatigued, the Rosario did not find the goal and Barça gave up a draw against an excellent Sevilla.
The Catalans are in a transition phase, outstanding in matters pertaining to small teams, such as concentration and humility, and still lacking authority and imbalance against powerful opponents like Sevilla.
Nothing better than the draw to define their situation in LaLiga.
Sevilla put Barça in their place.