TEMPO.CO , Jakarta - Lionel Messi menjadi pemain peraih trofi terbanyak untuk Barcelona setelah mengantar klub itu meraih gelar Piala Super Spanyol dengan mengalahkan Sevilla 2-1 di Tangier, Maroko, Ahad, 12 Agustus 2018. Messi kini sudah mengemas 33 trofi bersama Blaugrana, satu trofi lebih banyak dari Andres Iniesta, yang kini sudah pindah ke Jepang. Trofi Piala Super yang baru diraih adalah yang kedelapan bagi Messi. Pemain asal Argentina itu sudah memenangi sembilan trofi La Liga Spanyol, empat gelar Liga Champions, tiga trofi Piala Dunia Antarklub, dan enam gelar juara Copa del Rey. Dalam laga Piala Super itu Messi tampil sebagai starter. Ia tak mencetak gol, tapi cukup berperan mengantar timnya menang.
Barcelona ketinggalan lebih dahulu oleh gol Pablo Sarabia. Mereka mampu menyamakan kedudukan lewat gol Gerard Pique yang memanfaatkan bola muntah hasil tendangan bebas Messi. Ousmane Dembele kemudian memastikan keunggulan Barcelona dengan golnya. METRO
Barcelona have won the Supercopa de España thanks to a 2-1 victory over Sevilla in Morocco and guaranteed their first trophy of the season in the very first game. Barça dominated the first half and had to fight hard in the second, but Ousmane Dembélé scored a spectacular late winner to give the Catalans another Spanish Supercup.
FIRST HALF
Despite starting plenty of World Cup stars who joined preseason very late, Ernesto Valverde saw his team completely dominate the first half with great work in possession and constant danger on the wings with both full-backs, Jordi Alba and Nélson Semedo, providing width and support for Lionel Messi and Co.
Arthur and Sergio Busquets dominated midfield, and with Messi’s tendency to roam in the middle as well, Barça established control of the match. That’s when Pablo Sarabia scored on a counter attack completely against the run of play, and Sevilla were up one goal with the chance to park the bus and force Barça to find spaces inside a very tight defense.
Conceding early didn’t make the Blaugrana desperate, however, and they showed patience and intelligence to create very good chances to score an equalizer, but goalkeeper Tomas Vaclík was always alert and kept the Catalans from scoring. But when Lionel Messi hit a free kick into the post, Vaclík couldn’t stop Gerard Piqué from scoring the rebound and bringing Barça back into the match.
At halftime, Barça were in control and really deserved a comfortable lead, but they’d have to work hard in the second half to find a winner.
SECOND HALF
Most of the starters had just one week of training, and it clearly showed in the second half. Barça’s physical levels dropped in scary fashion, and despite a couple of substitutions by the coach to try and freshen things up, the Blaugrana just could not keep up the pace from the first period and relied on Messi set pieces to create any kind of danger.
Sevilla, on the other hand, were very dangerous on the counter, and Franco Vázquez came very close to scoring in two different occasions, and the Andalusians looked closer to a goal than Barça. But the Catalans have the overwhelming advantage in individual quality, and Ousamane Dembélé proved just that when he fired a rocket from outside of the box into the top corner and gave his team the lead.
Ben Yedder came on for Mercado as Sevilla changed formations, put two strikers up top and started sending balls into the box desperately looking for an equalizer, and when Aleix Vidal ran into Ter Stegen inside the six-yard area, the referee gave Sevilla a penalty that is impossible to understand. But Ter Stegen was not letting Sevilla equalize that way, and he easily stopped Ben Yedder’s spot kick to keep his team ahead.
The last three minutes were all about surviving the Sevilla onslaught, and Barça did just that. The final whistle came, and the Catalan giants have their first trophy of the season. It isn’t the most important or the only one we want to win, but it’s much better to win it than lose it, and to further prove that the Kings of Spain are Catalans.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Rafinha (Rakitic), Busquets, Arthur (Coutinho); Messi, Suárez, Dembélé (Vidal)
Goals: Piqué (42’), Dembélé (78’)
Sevilla: Vaclík; Mercado (Ben Yedder), Kjaer, Gómez; Navas, Mesa, Banega, Escudero; Sarabia (Vidal), Muriel (André Silva), Vázquez
Goal: Sarabia (9’)
A gorgeous late strike from Ousmane Dembele help lift Barcelona past Sevilla in Morocco in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday. In a tight match that also saw a late penalty kick from Sevilla saved by Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, it was Lionel Messi and company that took home another trophy ahead of La Liga starting next weekend.
Dembele scores gorgeous winner
After Pablo Sarabia opened the scoring with a fine finish on nine minutes, Barca's Gerard Pique scored just before halftime on a saved Lionel Messi free kick to draw level. And with the Spanish Super Cup hanging in the balance, it was an unexpected talent who secured the win.
Ousmane Dembele, trying to show he has what it takes to be a consistent player for the team, fired home an outrageous shot 78 minutes in off the crossbar and in to seal the victory:
OH MY GOD DEMBELE
Messi world class assist pic.twitter.com/niCrk0VpAu — BreatheMessi (@BreatheWC) August 12, 2018
A brick wall between Barca's posts
A collision between ter Stegen and Aleix Vidal resulted in a penalty kick awarded in the final minutes of the match. Wissam Ben Yedder, in added time, went low and to the right of the frame, and so too did Ter Stegen, who made the game-clinching stop.
The name is Marc-André ter Stegen and I'll never doubt him. 90th minute penalty save. Nerves of steel. pic.twitter.com/1262HdCM4C — Maha (@FCMaha) August 12, 2018
Player of the match
Dembele. He was lively, confident and took his chance really well. Not many people thought he was going to take that shot, but he did just that and produced his most important goal for the club since arriving last year.
Messi, the king
Messi made history by becoming the most honored player at the club. With the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday, the Argentine superstar, who wore the captain's armband, clinched his 33rd trophy, which is more than any player in club history. Andre Iniesta, who now plays in Japan after moving to Vissel Kobe this summer, was tied with Messi at 32.
What record does he not hold at the club? What a legend.
What result means
It was a well-deserved result for Barcelona, which had almost 70 percent of the possession and put eight shots on frame, but the lack of clinical finishing kept Sevilla in it. It never really felt like Sevilla was much of a threat to win this one, and Barca put the game away late.
Barca has some momentum entering La Liga, while Sevilla played valiantly but needs to figure out what the team will look like in attack. With Ben Yedder and the recently-added Andre Silva, there are options available with Luis Muriel, but finding a partnership duo that understands each other well will be key for this team against the physical defense of the Spanish league.
What was billed as a glorified friendly actually turned out to be a fantastic watch.
Barcelona, far from their best, were behind within 9 minutes when the excellent Pablo Sarabia curled in after a decisive breakaway.
It was the pattern of the game, with Sevilla breaking at pace and causing plenty of problems for the rusty Barca defence.
But as ever, they have their matchwinners. Lionel Messi hit the post from a freekick on the break, from which Gerard Pique poked in the rebound.
After huffing and puffing for much of the half, the Super Cup was decided by an Ousmane Dembele rocket from 25 yards with just over ten minutes remaining. And we even had time for a late penalty miss from Sevilla, who perhaps aren’t to fussed to have missed out on extra-time.
We hope that’s whetted your appetite for La Liga, which gets going next week. Barcelona vs Alaves and Real Madrid vs Getafe. We’ll see you then.
