Associated Press
Tbilisi (Georgia), August 12: Before the start of the current football season, Barcelona skipper Andres Iniesta had stated that the club would target winning all the six trophies this season. Lionel Messi saw to it that Barca remained on track for that achievement as he scored twice and set up the winning goal to help his club beat Sevilla 5-4 in extra- time to lift the UEFA Super Cup.
The action-packed, all-Spanish match was won when Pedro scored from close range after a shot by Messi rebounded in the 115th minute here Tuesday. In the final seconds of extra time, Sevilla defender Adil Rami had a golden chance to send the match to penalties but missed an open goal from close range.
Earlier, Sevilla had battled back from 1-4 down to 4-4 as Barcelona’s fitness was tested in their first competitive match of the season – Europe’s curtain-raiser between the winners of the Champions League and the second-tier Europa League.
“I thought we were much better, much stronger,” Messi said of the first hour of the match. “We had the ball for the first 60 minutes, we had opportunities, we scored. And then we seemed to relax, we let them have the ball, we withdrew a bit. And that allowed them to come back strong. Thankfully, it did not go to penalties.”
Barcelona were without injured left-back Jordi Alba and star striker Neymar, who is ill with mumps, while various absences for Sevilla meant that midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak dropped into the centre-back role.
European champions Barcelona went behind three minutes into the game when Ever Banega scored from a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area. Messi curled two direct free-kicks past Sevilla goalkeeper Beto in the seventh and 16th minutes and was a constant threat in attack throughout the first half, though he made less of a mark after the break.
Barcelona’s third came shortly before half time when Luis Suarez pounced on the rebound after his shot was parried by Beto and crossed for Rafinha to score. Suarez grabbed a goal in the 52nd minute following a poor pass by Sevilla defender Benoit Tremoulinas and the game looked over for the Europa champions.
But then started the Sevilla revival. Jose Antonio Reyes ran in at the far post to steer home a cross by Vitolo. The latter was again in the thick of action as he was fouled Jeremy Mathieu in the box. Kevin Gameiro converted the penalty easily. Sevilla pulled level when debutant Yevhen Konoplyanka slotted in from close range off a low pass from Ciro Immobile in the 81st minute.
