Umtiti makes comeback as Barcelona win 4-2 against Sevilla

Lionel Messi’s hat-trick carried Barcelona to a 4-2 victory over Sevilla

Samuel Umtiti made his comeback from a long-term knee injury, and produced a decent performance as Barcelona won 4-2 against Sevilla. It was a thrilling encounter at the Sánchez Pizjuán as Ernesto Valverde’s men avenged their 2-1 defeat in the Copa del Rey.

Marc-André ter Stegen made an excellent save to start off the game, but Sevilla found a breakthrough in the 22nd minute through captain Jesús Navas. After Lionel Messi gave the ball away, Sevilla played some great counter-attacking football.

Pablo Sarabia released Navas through down the right, and his rolled shot nestled itself into the bottom left corner. But Barça replied with a magical goal. In the 26th minute, Luis Suárez found Ivan Rakitić in space on the left wing.

The Croatian playmaker floated in an accurate cross with his left foot, and Leo Messi hit a powerful volley which found its way into the top right corner past an unsighted Tomáš Vaclík. But Los Nervionsenses took the lead yet again in the 42nd minute.

Ter Stegen’s poor clearance led to a move by Sevilla which ended in the back of the net. Pablo Sarabia was free on the right, and the Spaniard passed it into centre-back Gabriel Mercado, who provided a simple finish. The Barça defence was absolutely paralysed.

To counter the motivated Sevilla side, Ernesto Valverde made some attacking changes at half-time, with Ousmane Dembélé and Sergi Roberto coming in for Arturo Vidal and Nélson Semedo, thus moving into a 4-2-3-1 formation with Messi dropping behind Luis Suárez.

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The changes worked, as Barça piled on the pressure and started to create chances. It culminated in an equaliser in the 67th minute. Vaclík emulated his Barça counterpart with a terrible clearance to Rakitić. He passed to Dembélé, who collected an assist by setting up Messi.

The Argentine maestro curled it into the top right corner with his right foot. Carles Aleñá also came into the game in the last stages, replacing the unimpressive Philippe Coutinho. He was crucial in the securing the victory for Barça in the 85th minute.

The La Masia graduate took a shot from outside the box which was deflected into the path of Lionel Messi. The Argentina international coolly chipped it over the Sevilla goalkeeper to complete his hat-trick and for Barça to take a late lead, and eventually come away with all 3 points.

Luis Suárez added a fourth for Barça in stoppage time, as Messi added to his tally of assists this time around. The 32-year old Uruguayan centre-forward was put through on goal with a marvelous lofted pass and he lobbed it into the back of the net.

Clearly, Leo Messi was the man-of-the-match as the Barça captain returned to form after a rough patch. He was absolutely phenomenal, and bettered his performance from last season, when he came off the bench to secure a draw after the side had gone down 2-0.

Samuel Umtiti eased back into his partnership with Gerard Piqué and Jordi Alba, although he did struggle initially. Ivan Rakitić was also magnificent, and hardly put a foot wrong in the entire game. But half-time substitutes Semedo and Vidal will be disappointed.

Going into the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Madrid, this is the kind of momentum Barça needed to generate. Hopefully, Messi can carry his newly-regained form into the Copa Clásico, and guide Barça into the Copa del Rey final.