Barcelona: The day before his side hosted Barcelona, Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli joked that Lionel Messi’s supremacy necessitated two Ballon d’Or competitions, ‘one for Messi and one for everyone else’.
The Argentine’s words rang true as his compatriot turned Sunday night’s thrilling encounter with the high-flying Andalusians on their head, engineering a 2-1 comeback victory for his side despite a breathtaking display from Sevilla.
Barca looked there for the taking after Vitolo’s 15th minute goal and were drowning in the home side’s unrelenting pressure, only spared by some wayward finishing.
But as half time approached, Messi sparked a surge forward, combining with Denis Suarez and Neymar to equalise with Barca’s first clear effort on goal. It incidentally was his 500th career goal for Barcelona and had even the opponent supporters clapping at the way the Messi dinked the ball to the bottom corner of the net.
The 29-year-old took hold of proceedings in the second half, crafting two unfulfilled chances for himself before teeing up Luis Suarez to secure Barca the winner. Sevilla, for all their early confidence, had no response.
“When a player like him takes a game seriously it’s very difficult for his opponents,” said Sampaoli, whose side’s perfect home record in La Liga and the Champions League was broken.
“Messi is a world class player and when the game opens up there’s little you can do to stop him, nor his teammates because they can really punish you if you give them any space,” added the Sevilla coach
Barca coach Luis Enrique praised the little magician for yet another match-winning display. “Messi’s capacity to interpret any situation is remarkable. There’s no-one like him. Our aim is to look to give the ball to him as often as we can,” he said.
Vitolo who had scored the opening goal for Sevilla said, “I’m not going to tell you anything new about Messi, for me he’s the best of all time. He only appeared in the first half to score the goal but in the second he improved his whole team. We were on top in the first half but Barca’s front three can score at any moment and their first goal got them back into the game.”
Sevilla president Pepe Castro however, summed it all up in a single sentence. “They have Messi, we do not,”he said. “He is an extraterrestrial. The first time he touches the ball, it’s a goal for Barca.”
Reuters
