Sevilla 1-1 FC Barcelona

It was a hard fought 1-1 match that two or three years ago would have been like giants wrestling with each other, but that was another time and another set of players for either side.

In a perfect world those matchups would have continued but Barcelona have risen far beyond where Sevilla have fallen (due to age and attrition to the all-important transfer market). In this match, Sevilla played as the once mighty Depor have fallen to as well, with five at the back and playing on the counter (at least for a half). When Sevilla are spot on, like in the second half, Diego Capel and Jesus Navas can cause panic on any defense, but in the first half they were wary of Barca's insightful search for space in front of goal and so they waited.

Let's look over the goals then. Barcelona's came from a very familiar site. Not able to break down clubs that put eight men behind the ball and clog the middle, the blaugrana have taken to chipping the ball diagonally into space to one or another of their wingers cutting behind the fullback. Alves took the pass, controlled quickly and passed it to a rather clutsy Bojan, who didn't so much walk the ball into goal, but crash-landed alongside the ball as the both careened into the net.

Sevilla's came just after the break, when Negredo took a pass from Kanoute, then ran past a slack Abidal, bowled over Alves, and quickly crossed the ball to a waiting Jesus Navas. If anyone on the Barcelona backline had heard Navas calling for the cross as Negredo had taken himself out of range they didn't show it, as Pique was caught ball-watching and Valdez was indecisive after he left the goalmouth.

If that had been the extent of the action you might think that both clubs deserved a point and send them on their merry way, but that's not the case. Either club deserved full points.

Sevilla may have looked more spry in the second half than a tired Barcelona squad who missed Pedro's width and energy, but Barcelona created more chances and if not from some bizarre refereeing, might have left with a 1-3 win at the Sanchez-Pzjuan. In the 7th minute Messi scored a marvelous left-footed goal over the wall and into Sevilla's far left corner. There was some jostling for space, Pedro and Busquets were making a nuisance of themselves in front of the keeper, a distraction primarily, but there didn't seem to be any obvious contact as soon as the whistle blew. Is it that Capel is kept from interceding with the ball? He was on the opposite side of the wall. He was completely out of the play. Some say also that the ref blew the whistle before the goal scored. Not a chance. Either way the goal was annulled. Was Bojan fouled in the area by Jesus Navas, tackled from behind as Caceres screened the ref ? Looked like a penalty to me, but frankly this is nothing new for our colegiado Perez-Lasa.

Jose Mourinho had a long-winded tirade against the Basque referee, that he favored Barcelona over Madrid in matches, but he should also have given one to Sevilla in the first half when Alves dragged down Zokora in the box. Pep Guardiola didn't make it a big issue, and few of the players commented on the record about the bad calls, because they knew that they could just as easily have lost 3-1 as well. They are not playing well and it is starting to show. Sevilla came out of their shell in the second-half and took it to Barcelona on the counter.

They might have unlocked the scorecard if not for one of the worst misses I have ever seen, with Negredo in on goal and only the keeper to beat, the ex-Madrid canterano kicked it into the third row of seats twenty feet to the left of goal. . Jesus Navas's attempt, the one that Valdez saved remarkably, could have locked up the match. Both were clear indications that the combination of Pique, Abidal and Adriano may work as a temporary stop-gap, but they had better get Carles Puyol back quickly or this maybe a very important match for teams that stack themselves against Barcelona from now on.