Camp Nou Stadium brought us the second Copa del Rey semifinal between Barcelona and Sevilla tonight. We have the player ratings.
FC Barcelona had a unique opportunity to get through to the Copa del Rey final if they defeated Sevilla this evening. They had a 2-0 disadvantage but had high hopes to get a positive result that could get them to that center stage. Ronald Koeman still had some important injured players but the most important stars were on the pitch tonight. As he did last weekend against the same rival, the Dutch manager decided to use a five-man defensive line that did wonders on Saturday.
Having a solid defense is paramount for any football club in modern football and Koeman understands this perfectly. If they wanted to get a chance, Barcelona needed to score an early goal. Ousmane Dembele scored a beautiful screamer from outside the box that gave them that lifeline they needed. But as time progressed, Sevilla became more difficult to penetrate.
A heart-stopping second half.
After the break, Barcelona suffered too much in order to get that second goal. Sevilla had the victory near the end after Mingueza committed a penalty that Ter Stegen saved after Lucas Ocampos’ weak shot. Once that moment happened, the German goalkeeper allowed Barcelona to find the strength they needed to score the equalizer. Gerard Pique’s injury-time header gave Barcelone another 30 minutes to win this wild match.
Right after the extra time whistle, Martin Braithwaite scored another header after a Jordi Alba cross from the left flank. Sevilla had a chance to get another penalty after a handball from Lenglet but VAR decided it wasn’t intentional. The Blaugrana suffered to win the game but they finally made it happen. All they have to do is sit and wait for Levante or Athletic Bilbao to win tomorrow. After all, Barcelona might have a chance to win something despite the turbulent season.
Player ratings
FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen (9), Alba (6), Pique (8), Lenglet (7), Mingueza (7), Dest (6), Busquets (6), De Jong (7), Pedri (6), Messi (6), Dembele (7).
Bench: Griezmann (7), Ilaix (7), Firpo (6), Braithwaite (7), Trincao (7).
Sevilla FC: Vaclik (6), Carlos (6), Kounde (5), Fernando (5), Vidal (6), Acuña (7), Suso (7), Torres (7), Jordan (6), De Jong (5), En-Nesyri (5).
Bench: Rakitic (7), Navas (6), Rekik (6), Ocampos (5), Papu (6).
Feel free to make your pick on player’s ratings and performances using the widget below.
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