Spanish champions Barcelona suffered a humiliating 4–1 defeat at Sevilla on Sunday, collapsing in spectacular fashion in La Liga to hand early advantage in the title race to arch-rivals Real Madrid.
The loss — Barca’s first league defeat of the season — leaves them second, two points behind Madrid, while Sevilla surged to sixth after their most convincing display of the campaign.
Sanchez Haunts Former Club, Lewandowski Falters
Veteran Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez, once a Barcelona favorite, struck the opener from the penalty spot after Ronald Araujo’s clumsy foul on Isaac Romero. The 36-year-old calmly sent keeper Wojciech Szczesny the wrong way to give Sevilla an early lead.
Romero then made it 2–0 with a composed finish from Ruben Vargas’s cutback, exposing Barcelona’s fragile defending. Marcus Rashford pulled one back in first-half stoppage time — his first La Liga goal — to give the visitors brief hope.
But Barcelona’s best chance to level evaporated when Robert Lewandowski, clearly low on confidence, missed a penalty midway through the second half after a reckless foul by Adnan Januzaj. The Polish striker stuttered in his run-up and fired wide, compounding a miserable night for Hansi Flick’s side.
Sevilla Ruthless, Barca in Crisis Mode
Sevilla sealed the rout late on as Jose Carmona and Akor Adams struck to complete a famous victory. The win was only Sevilla’s second at home this year, but one that signaled a major turnaround under coach Matias Almeyda.
“I’m very happy for the victory — we needed this,” Almeyda said. “We didn’t give them space and executed our plan perfectly.”
Barcelona midfielder Pedri Gonzalez didn’t mince words in his post-match assessment:
“The first 45 minutes were horrendous. We’ve not played a game as bad as that. We must be self-critical.”
Coach Hansi Flick attempted to cool the panic, calling it “just one bad night,” but acknowledged that the team’s defending and attacking “were both far below standard.”
The Catalans were also without teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal, still nursing an injury, and appeared drained after their Champions League loss to PSG earlier in the week.
Elsewhere in La Liga
- Real Betis climbed to fourth with a 2–1 win at Espanyol, thanks to a stoppage-time penalty save by former Barca keeper Pau Lopez.
- Atletico Madrid slipped up in a 1–1 draw with Celta Vigo, losing Clement Lenglet to a red card in the first half. Iago Aspas, making a record-equaling appearance for Celta, scored the equaliser.
- Elche’s unbeaten run ended with a 3–1 loss to Alaves, dropping them to seventh.
Pressure Mounts on Flick
For Barcelona, the warning lights are flashing. After back-to-back defeats in Europe and the league, questions are growing over Flick’s tactics, Lewandowski’s form, and the team’s mental resilience.
With Real Madrid now in control, the defending champions have little margin for error if they hope to stay in the title race — and must regroup fast before their next fixture.
