"Matias Almeyda gathered his players in the shade at the side of the pitch and told them to liquidate this so they did. It was 33 degrees out there, they had been playing 33 minutes and they had scored one against Barcelona, which wasn't enough. The champions were there to be finished, Sevilla's manager said. He had shown them how, now it was up to them."
"There was applause, towels taken from shoulders, bottles handed back, and 179 seconds later it was two. It could have been four already; by the time the clock headed beyond 100 minutes it actually was, the men standing before his bench now swirling their shirts above their heads, eager to be released for one last run, over the turf and towards their teammates. Towards another time too."
"98% of teams that wait for Barcelona lose, Almeyda said before kick-off, so his players went for them instead. Five at the back became four, man-to-man in the middle: We didn't let the three brains think, the manager insisted. The Flick Line, as Rayo Vallecano's coach Inigo Perez called it, was breached with virtually every ball. White shirts were everywhere, but never just standing there."
Sevilla produced a 4-1 victory over Barcelona at the Sánchez-Pizjuán, their first win there in ten years. The match was played in 33-degree heat and saw Sevilla score quickly after regrouping at the side of the pitch, adding a second goal just 179 seconds later and extending the lead beyond 100 minutes to four. Matías Almeyda instructed an aggressive approach, shifting from five at the back to four and pressing man-to-man to disrupt Barcelona’s midfield creativity. The result ended Barcelona’s unbeaten start and, together with Elche’s defeat at Alavés, removed La Liga’s last two unbeaten records in one afternoon.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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