FC Barcelona missed the chance to climb into the top four on the LaLiga table after drawing 1-1 with ten-man Sevilla on Tuesday night.
LaLiga
Result: Sevilla 1-1 Barcelona
Date: 21 December 2021
Venue: Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán
Barca manager Xavi made two changes changes to the team that edged Elche in a five-goal thriller, as he recalled Gerard Pique and Pablo Gavira, with young striker Ferran Jutgla leading the front-line.
Neither side took the game by the scruff of the neck in wet conditions in the opening exchanges but Ousmane Dembele nearly took advantage for Blaugrana on the half-hour mark with a strike that was spilled by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou but fortunately for the hosts the ball was cleared away.
However, Sevilla eventually broke the deadlock two minutes later from a well worked set-piece routine after Alejandro Gomez curled a strike into the bottom corner at the back post from Ivan Rakitic's cross.
Julen Lopetegui's charges were not taking the initiative to attack and allowed the visitors back into the game on the stroke of half-time from a set-piece, as Ronald Araujo flicked home a header from Dembele's cross at the near post.
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The sides were cancelling each other early in the second stanza and a moment of madness led to Sevilla being reduced to ten men in the 64th minute from an off-the-field incident after Jules Kounde was sent off for throwing a ball into Jordi Alba's face.
With the game there for the taking, Xavi made a double change in the last quarter of an hour, as Nico replaced Jutgla in a tactical switch and Clement Lenglet came on for Eric Garcia in a straight swap at the back.
The closing stages were tense, with Barca having the attacking momentum and finding chances and Dembele was unlucky not to snatch the winner for the visitors in the last four minutes with a strike on the edge of the box that rattled the frame of goal.
In the end, Sevilla held on reduce the deficit between themselves and leaders Real Madrid to five points, with their three-game winning run also coming to an end while Barcelona
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