FC Barcelona’s standout players against Sevilla FC: Villa, Tello and Messi

FC Barcelona’s standout players against Sevilla FC: Villa, Tello and Messi

Barça turned the game around thanks to goals from Villa and Messi, and to Tello’s diabolical pace down the left wing

Botía gave Sevilla the lead on a cold winter night in Barcelona. The attendance at the Camp Nou was below 60,000 in a match that marked the halfway point from the defeat at the San Siro to the return leg of the Copa del Rey against Real Madrid.

Barça had the second half to mount a comeback and the substitutions from Jordi Roura proved to be spot on as the Blaugrana clawed their way back in to contention. Roura’s first sub was Tello for Alexis.

David Villa shows the way

The second half saw a much more incisive Barça on the attack. Within five minutes, Dani Alves’ cross found David Villa, who headed the ball into the back of the Sevilla goal. El Guaje has scored 7 goals in 726 minutes of play in the league this season (12 goals in all competitions), taking his goal-per-match average to one in every 104 minutes.

Tello, the supersub

Tello gave FC Barcelona the added depth and speed that it didn’t have in the first half. After the break, Tello was one of the main architects of Barça’s victory. The decision to sub Tello in for Alexis, however, was made out of precaution, as the Chilean picked up a knock on his left leg in the first half.

The numbers of the Masia graduate are simply spectacular: after 22 matches - 8 as a starter and 15 as a sub - Tello has scored 5 goals and given 5 assists, three of which were for Leo Messi.

Lionel Messi extends his hot streak

The Tello-Messi combo was crucial in tonight’s victory. The Argentine extended his goalscoring streak to 15 consecutive La Liga matches after his goal this evening on the 59th minute. Messi has netted 49 goals this season, 38 of them in the league.

Força Barça
Força Barça

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