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| Messi and Arda Turan on target as Barcelona beat Sevilla to win Spanish Super Cup |
FC Barcelona won their first trophy of the 2016/2017 after beating Sevilla 3-0 in their Spanish Super Cup second leg tie at the Camp Nou to ensure a 5-0 aggregate score line thanks to a fantastic brace by Arda Turan and a Messi header.
The Turkish captain played on the wing and scored a goal in each half while Lionel Messi scored a magnificent header in the second half to hand Barça their third title of the year 2016.
Luis Enrique made suprise changes to the starting XI from the first leg, resting Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez whilst starting Aleix Vidal, Samuel Umtiti, Andre Gomes and Munir El Haddadi instead. Arda and Messi played wide while Digne and Denis Suarez replaced the injured Mathieu and Iniesta with Jordi Alba on the bench.
Sevilla started the brighter team and got their first clear chance as early as the first minute but Claudio Bravo kept the score at 0-0 with a fantastic reflex save to deny Ben Yedder. Jorge Sampaoli’s men came immensely close three minutes later after a cross found Ben Yedder in the box, the strike unleashed a powerful header but once again, Claudio Bravo was on hand to party into the post, still 0-0.
It was Barça who took the lead with their first real chance and it was thanks to Arda Turan. New signing Andre Gomes combined superbly well with Messi before the Argentine talisman made a fine through ball to set up Turan who coolly placed a left-footed shot past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 with just ten minutes on the clock.
Barça came close again moments later and this time it was Lionel Messi. Aleix Vidal met a beautiful long pass from Arda Turan to set up the star but he couldn’t do much to keep his shot on target in what could have been an amazing goal.
Samuel Umtiti conceded a penalty after half an hour after he handled the ball in the Barcelona box and was given a yellow card, although the booking seemed a harsh one as it was 100% unintentional. The Frenchman will have Claudio Bravo to thank after the Manchester City bound shot-stopper did well to party Iborra’s spot kick and keep the tie at 1-0. It was an inspirational performance from Bravo in probably his last game for Barça.
Sevilla grew into the game and came close one again just at the stroke of halftime. Lionel Messi lost the ball in the Barcelona half and Sevilla capitalized on that, a cross found Argentine player Mercado on the left, the player’s header beat Claudio Bravo but hit the crossbar and it was the last kick of the half.
Barça started the second half with full force and it was only a matter of seconds before Arda Turan got his and Barça’s second. The star found the ball in his path on 46 minutes and unleashed a beautiful shot from outside the box to beat Sergio Rico. Although it was a deflected shot, it was a beauty of a goal.
Lionel Messi made it 3-0 ten minutes later with another beautiful goal. Lucas Digne picked the ball on the left flank before crossing the ball into the box, Messi leaped higher than his marker and headed the ball past Sergio Rico to make it 5-0 on aggregate, scoring his first goal of the season, his 100th under Luis Enrique and his 12th in the Spanish Super Cup, extending his record as player with most goals in the competition’s history.
Luis Enrique made a couple of changes in the second half with Lucas Digne coming off for Jordi Alba with an hour on the clock. Sergi Samper and Ivan Rakitic then replaced Sergio Busquets and Denis Suarez respectively on 73 minutes as Barça slowly approach the final whistle.
Javier Mascherano picked up an injury and was forced off with 10 minutes left on the clock, leaving Barça to play with ten men for the rest of the game as their three permitted substitutions have been exhausted. It didn’t affect Barça whatsoever as the Catalans hung on to win their third title of the year and their first of the 2016/2017 season.
