Lionel Messi believes Barcelona showed their
appetite for the Copa del Rey by blowing away
Sevilla 6-1 on Thursday to pull off a brilliant
comeback and book their place in the semi-finals.
Sevilla had won the first leg 2-0 but their lead
was wiped out within 31 minutes at the Camp
Nou, after Philippe Coutinho scored a penalty,
deferred to him by Messi, before Ivan Rakitic
poked in a second.
Ever Banega had squandered the chance to level
for Sevilla by missing his own spospam blocked by adminick and
Barca ran riot in the second half.
Coutinho headed in his second and Sergi Roberto
added a fourth, only for Guilherme Arana to give
Sevilla brief hope. Luis Suarez and Messi
wrapped up an emphatic victory late on, the latter
after a superb counter-attacking move.
Some had suggested Barcelona would be relieved
to exit the Copa del Rey to focus fully on La Liga
and the Champions League but Messi said their
display had silenced the doubters.
“It was said that we had given up in the cup, that
we didn’t want it,†Messi said afterwards. “But in
no way is this the case. This team wants to fight
for all three titles, as is the obligation of Barca
every year.â€
Coutinho’s form has wavered in recent weeks but
his double could do wonders for confidence.
Barcelona, meanwhile, are no strangers to these
sort of revivals but against Sevilla, who sit fourth
in La Liga and have been one of their closest
challengers this season, it was particularly
impressive.
The defending champions are into the last four for
the ninth consecutive year and edge closer to an
historic fifth Copa del Rey title in a row.
They join Valencia and Real Betis in the semis
after Betis had earlier needed extra time to beat
Espanyol 3-1, 4-2 on aggregate, while Valencia
knocked out Getafe on Tuesday.
Real Madrid could fill the last spot. They carry a
4-2 lead into their second leg against Girona on
Thursday.
Ernesto Valverde had rested players at the Ramon
Sanchez-Pizjuan but he fielded almost his
strongest XI in the return.
Messi, left out last week, was back in the starting
line-up, along with Suarez, Jordi Alba and
Coutinho. Jasper Cillessen kept his place in goal
ahead of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
– Messi gives up penalty duties –
Perhaps Messi felt Coutinho had played a big part
in winning the penalty after it was the Brazilian’s
drag-back that gave him the ball.
Messi went to shoot but struck the leg of Quincy
Promes, who could do little about the contact.
Referee Jose Sanchez checked with VAR and
pointed to the spot. Messi gave way to Coutinho,
who whipped it into the corner.
The night could have been different had Cillessen
not produced a pair of brilliant saves to preserve
his team’s lead. First, he tipped Andre Silva’s
flicked finish onto the post and then he saved
Banega’s penalty, pushing it out after Gerard
Pique had brought down Roque Mesa.
It could have been 1-1 but four minutes later, it
was 2-0, Arthur Melo picking out Rakitic, whose
attempt to control turned into a poke past the
committed Juan Soriano. Rakitic held up his
hands, choosing not to celebrate against his
former club.
Barca appeared to have put the tie beyond doubt
when they scored twice in as many minutes in the
second half. Coutinho stooped low to head in
Suarez’s cross and then Sergi Roberto hammered
in after a delicate ball through from Messi.
Instead, Sevilla pulled one back, Arana driving
into the far corner. There were 23 minutes left
and the visitors only needed one more to go
through on away goals.
But Suarez set Barca off again, tapping in Alba’s
cross before Messi added a final flourish. He
started the move with a soaring pass left to
Arturo Vidal, who fed inside to Suarez. Pique
played the ball back to Suarez by flicking it with
his right foot and then Alba teed up Messi, by
flicking with his left. Messi made it six.
source:
www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/sevilla-hammering-shows-barca-want-to-win-all-three-titles-messi/
