Barcelona’s quest to repeat their incredible feat of winning six titles this season seems to have taken a major knock when they were humbled by Sevilla 2-1 at the Nou Camp in their 1st leg tie of the last 16.
The Andalusians were the first to score on the stroke of the hour thanks to Diego Capel. However, Barca equalised just 14 minutes later when Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled a goal back for the Catalans to take his impressive goal tally to 13.
It was not to be their night as just two minutes later, Negredo (never heard of him before) slotted in a penalty for Capel who had been fouled by another player i only got to know this week – Dmitro Chygrinskiy. Sevilla now have a huge advantage going into the second round fixture next week which will be played at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
With a handful of Barca’s stars on the bench or out on international duty, Guardiola started the match with players largely drawn from the club’s academy. Sevilla also had to deal with a number of injuries and international call-ups so this should not be used as an excuse by Barcelona fans.
With Real Madrid just 2 points adrift of the Catalans in La Liga, Guardiola knows that this year’s championship will be his toughest. His main challengers Los Merengues also made key signings in the close season and they will want to ensure that they recoup the close to US$350,000,000 they spent in the summer by at least winning a trophy. One thing is for sure, Pep should be ready for an uphill task this season in both the league and the champions league.
