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Attendance: 37,588
Sevilla logo
La Liga
Mar 31, 2018 at 7.45pm UK
 
Barcelona logo

2-2

Vazquez (36'), Muriel (50')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Suarez (88'), Messi (89')

Barcelona rally to keep unbeaten La Liga run intact

Barca rally to keep unbeaten run intact
© Offside
Barcelona battle back from a couple of goals behind to earn a 2-2 draw with Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to maintain their unbeaten run in La Liga.

Barcelona's unbeaten run in La Liga has stretched to 37 matches thanks to a dramatic 2-2 draw with Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday night.

The Catalan club were heading for their first league loss under Ernesto Valverde after Franco Vazquez and Luis Muriel put the hosts two goals ahead, only for Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi to hit back in the final two minutes.

Barca, who played an hour without the benched Messi, could still see their lead at the top of the table reduced to nine points if Atletico Madrid beat relegation-threatened Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday night.

A goalkeeping error gave Andres Iniesta a chance to open the scoring for the visitors early on, but the Spanish midfielder could only loft the ball wide of the target.

Some nice play saw Jordi Alba played in behind soon after, though Suarez failed to convert from the cutback and momentum was soon with the home side.

Muriel mistimed his jump when attempting to convert a corner at the back post, while Angel Correa should have done better when picked out by Jesus Navas inside the box.

Sevilla were deservedly ahead 36 minutes in, though, as Correa exchanged passes with Sergio Escudero and rolled the ball into the path of the unmarked Vazquez to guide it past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Gerard Pique wasted a chance to get Barca on level terms with his mishit at the end of the first half, and that miss would prove even more costly as Sevilla doubled their tally soon after the restart.

Escudero was allowed to drift into the box and power a shot on target for Ter Stegen to block, with Muriel well positioned to convert the rebound via a touch from Samuel Umtiti.

Los Rojiblancos should have been out of sight on the hour as Navas hesitated when through on goal to be denied by Pique, and then Vazquez smashed the loose ball into the side-netting.

Valverde turned to Messi for the final half-hour and the impact was almost instant, as he soon fed the ball through for Philippe Coutinho and Alba, the latter of whom could only pick out the side-netting.

Barca were beginning to turn the screw but Sevilla, now with just one win in 22 league meetings with the Catalans, had chances of their own with Navas volleying low on target to force Ter Stegen into another stop.

Then came the crazy conclusion to the match as Suarez volleyed Paco Alcacer's knockdown into the roof of the net and, 60 seconds or so later, Messi swept the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to maintain Barcelona's unbeaten run.

SEVILLA (4-2-3-1): Rico; Mercado (Layun 46'), Kjaer, Lenglet, Escudero; Banega, N'Zonzi; Navas (Nolito 81'), Correa (Pizarro 72'), Vazquez; Muriel

BARCELONA (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Paulinho (D.Suarez 77'), Iniesta (Alcacer 81'), Rakitic; Coutinho, Dembele (Messi 58'), L.Suarez

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Lionel Messi in action for Barcelona on January 28, 2018
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Atletico MadridAtletico18125133122141
2Real Madrid18124241182340
3Barcelona19122551222938
4Athletic Bilbao19106329171236
5Villarreal188643430430
6Mallorca199371921-230
7Real Sociedad187471613325
8GironaGirona187472625125
9Real BetisBetis186752122-125
10Osasuna186752327-425
11Celta Vigo187382728-124
12Rayo Vallecano185762021-122
13Las PalmasLas Palmas186482327-422
14Sevilla186482027-722
15Leganes184681728-1118
16AlavesAlaves184592130-917
17Getafe183781115-416
18Espanyol1843111630-1415
19Valencia172691626-1012
20Real ValladolidValladolid1833121237-2512


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