Barcelona – Sevilla: Sampaoli’s Schemes Cost Sevilla in Second Half Humiliation (3-0)

It truly was a tale of two halves as Sevilla played solid, structured defensive football in the first half, before Jorge Sampaoli tried to mess with a working system to try and win the match. Xavi’s Barcelona, who had already been dominating the game, took advantage of Sampaoli’s mistake and put three goals past Bono in the second half to go eight points clear atop LaLiga. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Charlie Tuley

Barcelona came into the match in the finest of form, having won their list nine matches in all competitions. They sat atop the LaLiga table with fifty points through nineteen games, with the chance to go eight points above Real Madrid after the former champions lost to Mallorca earlier in the matchday. Xavi has his team playing fine football as of late, and their defensive record has been the best in all of Europe (having conceded only seven goals during the 2022/2023 campaign). However, despite how their form looks on paper, many of their recent wins have come from performances where the Catalan side has not been the better team but have still been able to eke out a win through their constant pressure or some individual brilliance. 

Xavi was without Ousmane Dembélé and Alejandro Balde for the match against Sevilla, both of whom have been key to Barcelona’s success so far this season. Xavi once again rolled out his four-midfielder system that has worked so well of late, giving Sergio Busquets, Frenkie De Jong, Pedri, and Gavi the ability to run the midfield together. Jules Koundé was once again deputized at right-back, whilst Ronald Araújo, Andreas . . .