Barcelona outclass winless Sevilla in their backyard

Barcelona piled the misery on Sevilla as Julen Lopetegui's men remain winless this term. After an opening 20 minutes which were very even, Barca took the lead through Raphinha and it was one way traffic after that. Lewandowski got the second just before the interval and Eric Garcia added a third early in the second half. Former Sevilla player Jules Kounde shone on his return to his old ground and he assisted both Lewandowski and Garcia in what could have been an even wider margin of victory.

Sevilla came out to attack from the off and they nearly took the lead after four minutes when Isco, who was making his first start, played in Rakitic, but the Croatian was denied by the goalkeeper. Despite that, the hosts keep on trying to take the game to Barcelona and even had the ball in the back of the net, Lamela was clearly offside from Jordan's pass. In the 18th minute, En-Nesyri hit wide when he was one on one with Ter Stegen and those missed opportunities proved costly. 

Barca hit the front after 21 minutes when Dembele ran forward and passed to Lewandowski whose effort was cleared off the line by Fernando and Raphinha headed in the rebound. Shortly afterwards, Raphinha curled one wide of the goal and Xavi's side did not have to wait long to double their advantage. 

Former Sevilla footballer Kounde picked out Lewandowski in the box with a pinpoint pass and the Pole controlled with his chest before volleying into the net. It could have been even worse for the home side had Kounde not sent a header wide and had Dembele not hit off target after a terrific run on the counter. 

Sevilla were two down at the interval and any hopes of a Sevilla comeback were ended in the 50th minute. A corner was taken short, Raphinha sent a ball to Kounde at the far post and he headed across for Eric Garcia to tap in. 

The game was done as a contest and Barca were very comfortable for the remainder of the counter. Lewandowski almost scored again on two further occasions, but Bono denied him. At the other end, the closest Sevilla came was through subsitute Gomez from long range which Ter Stegen saved.

It was a very comfortable win for Barca, who are second, just two points behind Real Madrid. For Sevilla, they remain on just one point and desperately need a result at Espanyol next Saturday otherwise Julen Lopetegui's future at the club could be in doubt.