BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Seville’s life-filled defense allowed Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona to lose its first spanish league numbers on Sunday.
While Sevilla held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou, Real Madrid moved up to the more sensible standings after Vin-cius Junior and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois helped Levante win 2-0.
Barcelona and Seville have less match and Madrid by 3 points.
Challenging Barcelona and Madrid, the protective champions, because the name is not out of consultation for the disciplined Julen Lopetegui de la Juve after this performance. A defense opposed to tension anchored through Fernando and Jules Kounde closed Lionel Messi for long periods and forced Barcelona to make several bad passes.
“Getting a point on this court is hard, (but) I’m not satisfied. We had our chances. It’s a shame we couldn’t get a bigger result,” Lopetegui said. “We had a game plan and we wanted to do that happens. “
MAP OF LOPETEGUI
Sevilla’s intense tension in the field forced Barcelona to paint very hard to pass the ball in the middle of the field, but it did not succeed, wasting ownership in an unusual way for a team that prides itself on the quality of the passes.
Striker Luuk de Jong gave Sevilla the lead in the 8th minute when he exploded a loose ball that fell into the center of the area after a corner kick.
Barcelona defended themselves two minutes later when Messi returned to the center of the field and threw a pass to find Jordi Alba’s career on the left side. Jess Navas tried to intercept the pass, to put him in the Coutinho he shot at the door.
Lopetegui, the coach who fired Spain and Real Madrid in 2018, has resurrected his career at Sevilla, as his team has not lost in 18 consecutive league matches since the last campaign, when he won the Europa League.
He lost his homework in Madrid after a humble 5–1 loss at Camp Nou in 2018 and his Sevilla lost here 4-0 last season.
This time, a victory imaginable was a few inches away when Barcelona defender Ronald Arajo deviated a damaging center from the spar with purpose in ’64.
American Sergio Dest made his Barcelona debut replacing left-back Jordi Alba.
Barcelona had won all their matches, adding up to three pre-season matches, since Koeman took over after their humiliating 8–2 defeat to Bayern Munich in last match last season.
“We lost more balloons than the OldArray itself . . . However, a week, 3 games and seven points, we have to be happy,” Koeman said of his team’s departure.
PIE COURTOIS
For the time being in the match followed, Vin-cius once in the back led his team in attack. Courtois took credit when the Levant pushed the tie before Karim Benzema scored Madrid’s moment on the last shot of the game.
He had a good end when he rubbed a right-hand shot at the wide post in the 16th minute and then wasted two transparent opportunities to put the result out of doubt.
Courtois made a fair stop in the part of the moment when he used his foot to take a deflected shot that dropped him on the road.
“(Courtois) stored us, but like any goalkeeper, that’s what he does,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said.
OTHER PARTIES
Rodrigo Ely’s purpose gave Alavés his first win, a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, who left on purpose in 3 of the four games.
Cadiz extended their promising return to the most sensible race by going back a 1–1 draw with Granada.
Osasuna recovered from two losses, beating Celta de Vigo 2-0 at home.
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