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The last game of the Spanish league season kicked off tonight at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as Sevilla hosted Barcelona. It was also Xavi’s last game coaching Barcelona, and the emotions were running high even before kick off.
Barcelona started the game on the front-foot, and scored through Robert Lewandowski in the 15th minute after an excellent move with Pedri and Joao Cancelo combining.
Youssef En-Nesyri equalised 15 minute later, though, after which defending almost became optional for both teams.
Barcelona took the game by the scruff of its neck in the second half, though, with Fermin Lopez coming up clutch with a superb goal from outside the box into the bottom left corner.
The two goals were enough for Barcelona to sail through to the three points as Xavi got a win on his farewell.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen: 6
Made an excellent save off Lukebakio’s effort, but had no business conceding Youssef En-Nesyri’s goal between his legs. Should have done better.
Jules Kounde: 4.5
Too tame with the ball at times, especially in his own half. Got bullied on multiple occasions, and made a fair few errors defensively, against his former side.
Pau Cubarsi: 6.5
Excellent in possession, as always, but a bit too lax positionally without the ball. Was caught out a couple of times, but made decent recoveries.
Inigo Martinez: 7
Played most of the game at the half-way line and had to rely on Cubarsi to make a couple of recoveries for him. Did well in the second half, though, and was especially impressive with the ball.
Joao Cancelo: 8
Assisted Lewandowski’s goal with a brilliant move, and hit the woodwork from close range. A solid offensive outing from Cancelo, who might be playing his last game in a blaugrana shirt tonight.
Pedri: 8
Ran the show in midfield, and was a huge part of Lewa’s first-half goal with a superb flick on. Pedri also seemed much more confident tonight, and was ready to take on players, even inside the opposition box.
Came close to scoring on two occasions, too, including an effort that rattled the crossbar.
Andreas Christensen: 7
Reliable as ever, Christensen completed 100% of his passes in the first half, but should have done better to screen off a lot of the Sevilla counters.
Ilkay Gundogan: 7.5
Circulated the ball brilliantly as the deepest midfielder often. Found passes out of sticky situations, and was responsible for starting most of Barcelona’s attacks, and eventually got the assist for Fermin’s goal.
Lamine Yamal: 7
Yamal completed a fair few exciting dribbles on that right side of the pitch, running rings around the Sevillan defence. Was not as accurate with his chance creation, though, and was deservedly rested after 62 minutes.
Robert Lewandowski: 7.5
Got the goal to take him to 19 in the league this season, but his overall performance was not much to write home about.
Fermin Lopez: 8
Fermin added a ton of dynamism to the team, and continually made runs without the ball. Also covered defensively for Cancelo on that wing.
Special goal. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)Was even better in the second half as he took more responsibility with the ball, distributed it mostly faultlessly, and eventually scored the winner with style.
Oriol Romeu: 6.5
Had a lot of responsibility on the ball, and did not make any mistakes with his passing or decision-making. Made an important interception inside the box to stop a possible goal, as well.
Joao Felix: 6
A few tricks here, a few tricks there, but little to no final product.
Ferran Torres: 6
Tried his best to run that right-wing and almost created a wonderful chance for Kounde before it was ruled offside.
Vitor Roque: N/A
Was not involved enough to warrant a rating.
Hector Fort: N/A
Came on too late to receive a rating.