Sevilla 2-0 Barcelona: 5 hits and flops as Jules Kounde and Ivan Rakitic leave Blaugrana with a huge deficit | Copa del Rey 2020-21

Barcelona must score at least thrice at the Camp Nou to reach the final.
Barcelona must score at least thrice at the Camp Nou to reach the final.

Hit: Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)

The picture speaks a thousand words.
The picture speaks a thousand words.

Yassine Bounou has quietly been one of the best goalkeepers in the La Liga since joining Sevilla from Girona last season.

Against Barcelona, Bounou was at his best yet, as the Moroccan custodian produced four incredible saves to deny Barcelona and clinch a well-deserved clean sheet.

Three of those attempts came against Messi, as Bounou stood tall in the face of the onslaught.

His best piece of action came towards the end of the match, when he dived the right way to keep out the Barcelona ace's fabulous free-kick in stoppage time, preventing Messi from bagging a late away goal.

The likes of Kounde and Ivan Rakitic will make all the headlines for their superb efforts, but Bounou is the real Man of the Match for his exceptional performance between the sticks.


Flop: Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona)

Samuel Umtiti has had a baptism of fire since returning from his injury.
Samuel Umtiti has had a baptism of fire since returning from his injury.

Samuel Umtiti hasn't looked sharp since returning to the Barcelona fold after a lengthy injury lay-off; against Sevilla, he was absolutely horrific.

The Frenchman was guilty of coming up short for both of Sevilla's goals; he was humiliatingly nutmegged by Kounde for the first and then lied on the ground when Rakitic thumped home the second.

The Frenchman is clearly yet to achieve full match-fitness and needs to start games from the bench till he is able to do so.


Hit: Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla)

Ivan Rakitic was on target against his old club
Ivan Rakitic was on target against his old club

Ivan Rakitic plays against his former club and scores a goal which could potentially knock them out of the competition - how poetic!

The Croat, who rejoined the Rojiblancos last summer after six great seasons with Barcelona, struck a powerful effort beyond Marc-Andre Ter Stegen in the 85th minute to double Sevilla's advantage.

More than anything, Rakitic's goal was a shot at redemption; he had become a figure of hate at Barcelona during his later years and was offloaded without any show of appreciation from the club either.

Even though Sevilla's job is only half done, the midfielder once again reminded the Cules of their mistake and showed he can still deliver in the big games.

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Edited by Bhargav
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