BARCELONA – SEVILLE Pedri leads the opposition

Sevilla changes nightmare. If for decades they were tormented by an implacable Messi, now Pedri has arrived, who yesterday decided the match with a majestic goal He gave victory to the Blaugrana team (1-0) in a duel in which Barça played to avoid suffering so much. Xavi’s men stand after this victory as leaders of the opposition to Real Madrid, ranking second in the table with one game less than their competitors. Sevilla, which despite being affected by casualties, competed in the duel with intelligence and intensity (especially from its two central defenders) becomes fourth.

Barcelona found a team in Sevilla that, despite their casualties, wanted to maintain their style of play and try to tame Barça based on long possessions. And at times in the first half he succeeded, but Lopetegui’s men have their Achilles Heel in that they lack a fang on top. The Basque coach tried to fix it by presenting an unprecedented forward line with Lamela, Ocampos and Martial, but they went into the break without having tested Ter Stegen even once.

Barcelona, ​​on the other hand, was going to arreones hanging from a Dembélé who asked for the focus and was the great architect of the Blaugrana attack plays and ended up being fired to applause. His teammates, Ferran and Aubameyang, dedicated themselves to throwing unchecks and waiting for the Frenchman’s crosses, which drove Rekik crazy, who was finally chosen to cover Acuña’s loss.

The chances were for Barcelona and at times, Sevilla slept the game. The closest the Andalusian team came to creating danger in the Blaugrana goal was a possible penalty by Araújo’s arm to a center by Martial, but the referee who was in front of the play considered that it hit him in the upper part of the arm that was in a natural way. Minutes later, an almost traced play happened in the Sevilla area.

On the other hand, Barcelona was being penalized for the lack of agreement in the final meters, where between Ferran’s poor coordination and Bono’s performance against a shot from Aubameyang, they left Barça dry in the middle of a game that had a lot of fabric what to cut

It was demonstrated by the first play of the second half, in which Lamela arrived in front of the Barça goal. Sevilla began to bite the counterattack and Barça was in a hurry. The game was a coin in the air that was looking for a stroke of genius from one of its protagonistsyes Pedri was able to have it, after leaving Koundé sitting in a slalom, but Diego Carlos appeared to put a saving leg. The second time, it wouldn’t fail. In fact, Sevilla’s two central defenders were a constant torture for the locals, who in every attacking move found one or the other coming to the rescue of their team in extremis.

And when they weren’t central, it was Bono. The Moroccan goalkeeper, who had been a doubt until the last minute, saved his team twice in two minutes: one to a shot from Ferran and another to a header from Araújo.

Those two actions sank Sevilla in their area and Barça began to carburize in attack: Piqué headed a corner to the crosshead, Dembélé failed in the mouth of the goal and everything pointed to the fact that it was not the day to pierce the Sevilla goal… until Pedri’s magic arrived.

The canary controlled the ball at the edge of the area and there, in a hectic game, the 19-year-old boy stopped time. With a veteran pause he sent Rakitic to the ground, with another feint he did the same with Diego Carlos and then crossed the ball to the back of the net. A great goal that drove the Camp Nou crazy.

Lopetegui desperately tried to besiege the Blaugrana goal, which went through scares, like an incomprehensible exit from Ter Stegen’s fists, but he did not create danger either, while Barça managed the ball to win the game, add 34 of the last 42 possible points and place second in the table waiting for Madrid to puncture. And if he does, Pedri and his team will be there.