Written by: Dip Rajbahak - 2022008, Grade X
Posted on: 07 April, 2021
On 4th March 2021, there was a match between Barcelona and Sevilla which was the second leg of the semifinal. Before moving to the second leg let’s quickly summarize what happened in the first leg. It was played on 11th Feb on Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium which was the home ground of Sevilla. Before half an hour of play, Sevilla had a lead by 1 null where J.Kounde scored in the 25th minute of the match and at the end of the match, Ivan Rakitic scored a wonderful goal against his former club and he gave Sevilla a two-goal advantage. Sadly Barcelona was denied a penalty shootout and Messi was denied thrice by Sevilla’s goalkeeper if it hadn't been saved that could have changed the game in no time.
Now let us move on to our topic: the second leg of the semi final was played in Barcelona’s home ground which was Camp Nou stadium. Barcelona had the same line-up and the formation was successful against Sevilla. Right then the game started Barcelona had an early lead where O.Dembele strikes in 12 minutes of the play he scores a stunner. The Frenchman finds the top right corner where Vaclik had no chance to defend it. Messi cuts open the Sevilla defense with his footwork he strikes from a difficult angle though it was deflected in the goal line and after a few minutes of play there was a Half time. Right then the second half started after a couple of minutes there was a quick substitution from Sevilla. Off the bar, Dembele finds a room down the right inside and he stands up a cross to the back post. Alba tried a bicycle kick on that volley but it was denied by the bar. Penalty to Sevilla Nesyri runs at the Barcelona defense and releases in the left inside the channel. Mingueza brought down Ocampos and the referee didn't hesitate to give a penalty to Sevilla. Ocampos missed the penalty. The match was about to end in the 89th minutes Barca had a couple of substitutions and 5 minutes of extra time was added. In the 92nd minute, Sevilla player receives second yellow and Fernando gets a red card and Sevilla is reduced to 10 players. Barcelona scores and equalizes in the last kick of the game where Pique heads from the short-range into the right corner. Aggregate is now 2-2. 30 minutes of additional time were added and Brathwaite headed Barcelona in the tie and he kept Barcelona in the front. Sevilla appeals for the penalty in 101 minutes for the handball against Length. But the decision goes against them however hosts are happy with the decision.
One more red card for Sevilla De Jong is sent off the field. A great save Messi whips in a cross from the right flank but Vaclik produces a solid stop to repel his header. Finally, the match ended Barcelona’s stage with a dramatic comeback to get a victory against Sevilla and now they have advanced to the Copa del Rey final which will be played on 17th April. Gerard Pique capitalized to be the hero of the match by scoring in the last minute of the extra time.
