The threads of destiny are intricate. Before the ball started rolling in the Barça-Sevilla game, some images went viral in which Lamine Yamal left the Camp Nou hand in hand with Sergio Ramos in a 2016 classic in which the Blaugrana paid tribute to a recently deceased Cruyff. The former Madrid player, after a header from the young Barça striker with whom he wanted to assist another young man, Fermín, so that he could score at will, would, in the end, be the one who would score, in his own goal, the goal that would end up giving them victory for the blaugrana. It was of no use to Mendilibar's team to try to achieve something positive from an extremely firm and physical defense.. The friendly fire, in this case, took them completely by surprise.
The tension, however, focused on the start of the match in a box where there was no usual representation of the rival board.. Sevilla had already announced hours before that it was suspending the previous formal events and that no one from the club would appear due to the latest developments in the Negreira case, which includes an accusation for an alleged crime of bribery that led him to expose his “total indignation and rejection at the practices carried out by the former Barcelona leaders charged in the Negreira case, practices that supposedly constitute a crime for the Investigative Court number 1 of Barcelona, according to the order published in the media.
Barça, for its part, regretted what it described as “an unjustified attack” and considered relations between both clubs broken.. “The so-called Negreira case cannot serve as an excuse for such actions since the judicial procedure is in a very premature investigation phase and Sevilla's position clearly prejudges facts that, in no case, and in none of its preliminaries and hypotheticals classifications, are accredited,” said the entity, which also wanted to emphasize that the judicial decision “does not modify in any way the factual and legal situation of Barcelona in the procedure; it is legally very debatable; it does not become a substantiated evidentiary activity and will be duly appealed by the club”.
Ramos' goal
On the pitch, Barça had to break a lot of ground against a Sevilla team that was very well planted on the pitch and who, like Celta or Mallorca, also knew how to wait for their options to create danger on the counterattack.. Both, however, had clear options to open the scoring before the break.. Joao Félix, for example, saw the ball dangerously close to the goal line, without going over it, after first hitting the crossbar with his shot.. And Fermín, replacement for the injured Raphinha, only needed a little more power in his left foot to beat Nyland. At the other goal, Ter Stegen had to work hard to thwart a right-footed shot from Rakitic and a forced shot from Lukébakio, while Gavi saved a shot that seemed to have already beaten the German.
After the break, Barça took another step forward in attack, forcing Sevilla to defend themselves closer and closer to their goalkeeper. So much so that in the end he ended up winning a prize. Sergio Ramos, while trying to prevent Lamine Yamal from assisting Fermín, ended up sending the ball into the back of his own goal, to the delight of the Barça fans, who did not hesitate to whistle at him every time he touched the ball due to his Real Madrid past. The visitors, far from being intimidated, tried to overcome their bad luck and forced the Barça defenders to work hard so that the three points, finally, although not without some suspense, would finally stay at home.