🇪🇸 Pair of braces earns Barcelona emphatic win over Sevilla | OneFootball

La Liga pace-setters Barcelona have re-established their three-point lead over rivals Real Madrid thanks to an emphatic 5-1 win over Sevilla.

Scorers: Lewandowski 24′ (pen), 39′, Pedri 28′, Torre 82′, 88′; Muzambo 87′

Hansi Flick’s outfit came into tonight’s clash with a 17-match unbeaten run against Los Nervionenses (13-4-0) while also finding all three points in each of their last five meetings.

Barcelona was forced into an unexpected change to the XI during the warmup after Eric García felt discomfort. He was ultimately replaced with Ansu Fati, who made his first league start since May of 2023.

On a night when the club would pay its respects to Dutch legend and former player Johan Neeskens in the wake of his passing, Blaugrana remained on track with a dominant display at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys while making it nine wins from 10 La Liga fixtures.

First, Polish star Robert Lewandowski slotted home his effort from the penalty spot in the 24th minute before they would double their lead four minutes later through talismanic midfielder Pedri’s curled effort into the top corner from outside the box after wonderkid Lamine Yamal squared his ball to the top of the box.

Lewandowski would put the result out of sight in the 39th minute when he completed his first-half brace with a deft deflection on Raphinha’s low effort towards goal.

Barça continued to pile on the pressure in the second half before finally finding a fourth through Pablo Torre in the 82nd minute after his effort from 12 yards out deflected off Loic Badé and past Ørjen Nyland.

Sevilla did fight back to at least get on the scoresheet with an 87th-minute consolation goal by Stanis Muzambo; his first in La Liga.

Barcelona restored their four-goal advantage when Torre completed his brace two minutes later from a direct free-kick aimed at Inigo Martinez, but the centre-back was unable to make any contact on the inswinging ball before Torre’s effort would make its way past Nyland.

Up next in the league for Barcelona is a six-point El Clásico clash against Real on Saturday after a midweek Champions League night as they welcome Bayern Munich to Catalunya.