United News of Bangladesh

A nightmare week for Barcelona continued with a crushing 4-1 defeat away to Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium on Sunday, as the reigning  Spanish champions lost their chance to reclaim the top spot in the La Liga table from arch-rivals Real Madrid. Sevilla dominated from the outset, taking a two-goal lead in the first half and adding two more late in the second. Barcelona had hinted at a comeback when they pulled one back right before halftime, but a series of missed opportunities left them frustrated. Just three days earlier, the Catalan had suffered their first defeat of the season — to PSG in the Champions League. Now, their unbeaten La Liga run has also come to an end in Seville. Barca coach Hansi Flick was forced to rotate his squad heavily for this match, with key players such as Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Fermin Lopez, Gavi, and goalkeeper Joan Garcia sidelined due to injuries. Sevilla immediately showcased their strength after kickoff, and the visitors suffered an early setback just 13 minutes into the match. Barça captain Ronald Araújo fouled Sevilla’s Isaac Romero two minutes earlier — an incident initially overlooked by the referee. However, following a VAR review, the decision was overturned and a penalty awarded. Former Barcelona forward Alexis Sánchez stepped up, sending Wojciech Szczęsny the wrong way to give Sevilla the lead. Sevilla continued to press aggressively, and Romero could have had a hat-trick had he finished several of his promising chances. During this spell, Szczęsny was kept extremely busy, making crucial saves to prevent further damage. In the 36th minute, however, the Polish keeper was helpless, as Sevilla launched a swift counterattack. This time, Romero found the back of the net, and doubled his team’s advantage. Barcelona created a couple of clear opportunities just before the halftime, but Marcus Rashford failed to capitalize despite facing the goalkeeper one-on-one, while Robert Lewandowski’s acrobatic attempt narrowly missed the target. In added time, the Catalans finally pulled one back through a brilliant combination between Pedri and Rashford. Pedri sent a long, flying pass to the opposite direction, just outside the box, and Rashford finished it off with a superb first-time strike.  

With a statement win against Sevilla, Barcelona showed it wasn't giving up yet in the fight for the Spanish league. Barcelona’s revamped team under coach Xavi Hernández kept its momentum and moved into second place for the first time this season after beating Sevilla 1-0 at home on Sunday. Pedri González broke the deadlock by scoring a beautiful goal in the 72nd minute at Camp Nou Stadium to move the Catalan club past Sevilla and keep its slim title hopes alive. Read:Mbappe runs the show in PSG’s 5-1 win over Lorient The result left Barcelona 12 points behind leader Real Madrid but it has a game in hand. Madrid salvaged a 2-1 win at Celta Vigo on Saturday with a couple of goals by the league scoring leader Karim Benzema. “We will keep fighting until the math shows that we have no chance,” Xavi said. “We were hoping (Madrid) would have stumbled yesterday but it didn't happen. Xavi has slowly turned Barcelona into a competitive squad again in his first year with the club. Barcelona has the same points as Sevilla and defending champion Atlético Madrid, which won at Alavés 4-1 on Saturday. Sevilla dropped from second to fourth because of the head-to-head tiebreakers. Barcelona hadn’t been as high as second after a tough start to its first season without Lionel Messi. It reached the top three only a few rounds ago. Barcelona has won eight and drawn one of its last nine matches in all competitions. It hasn’t lost in 13 consecutive games. Sevilla had been second since the 16th round but gradually lost ground. It had drawn its last three in a row. Barcelona was mostly in control but struggled to create significant scoring chances. Veteran defender Gerard Piqué almost opened the scoring with a header that struck the crossbar in the 69th. Pedri finally got the winner by faking his shot twice outside the area before firing in a low strike. The match came a few hours after the club ratified an agreement with Spotify for at least 12 seasons. The agreement, initially announced in March, was approved by 89% of votes in Sunday’s general assembly. Read:FIFA World Cup 2022: GroupWise Favourites to Advance to Round of 16 BETIS STAYS NEAR TOP Real Betis routed Osasuna 4-1 to stay within range of the final Champions League place. Juanmi scored twice and William Carvalho and Álex Moreno added a goal each for the hosts' second victory in the last nine matches in all competitions. The result left Betis four points behind Sevilla, Atlético and Barcelona. ATHLETIC WINS AGAIN Athletic Bilbao ended a two-match winless streak with a 2-1 win over Elche to stay in eighth place, near the European spots. It was the fourth loss in five matches for Elche, which is six points above the drop zone. OTHER RESULTS Mid-table Valencia was held at home by relegation-threatened Cádiz to 0-0, while 10-man Rayo Vallecano was held at Granada to 2-2 after conceding a penalty kick four minutes into stoppage time.