The match was very intense as
10-man Barca defeated 9-man Sevilla
which ended in favour of Barcelona.
There were worrying signs for Barcelona.
Mascherano saw red for pulling down Kevin Gameiro in the 36th minute. The French forward was through on goal and the Argentine was the last defender. It was the right decision, despite protests from Barca fans inside the stadium. And when Suarez limped off with a hamstring strain in the second half, it looked as if Sevilla was destined to win.
Argentine forward Lionel Messi was not having his best game by any means, but he can always produce a spark to decide a match at any moment.
And that was exactly what happened as the game went into extra time.
Sevilla would not have wanted an additional 30 minutes after their Europa League Final on Wednesday when they beat Liverpool in Basel. And with their best player Ever Banega sent off right at the end in what seems certain to be his last contribution in a
Sevilla shirt before moving to Inter in the summer, things became even more difficult. There was no a sense that the momentum had swung back in Barca's favour. The fans found their voices, the players pushed, Sevilla sat back - and up popped Messi. The Argentine lofted a glorious pass into the path of Jordi Alba in the area in the first period of extra time and the left-back finished with a
single touch. Unai Emery's side, so solid for so long, had been completely carved open in an instant giving Barcelona a
1-0 lead and with the game approaching its finale and Sevilla now down to nine following Daniel Carrico's challenge on the Messi, he did it again. This time, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner waited on the edge of the box with the ball at his feet as he sensed an opening. And he picked it perfectly, rolling a beautiful
ball through to Neymar for the Brazilian to make it 2-0.
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