Barca hand opportunity to True Madrid after Sevilla stalemate
Barcelona made the initial slip in the subject competition since La Liga's go back by drawing 0-0 against Sevilla on Friday and handing True Madrid the chance to regain top location this weekend.
After their emphatic 3-0 win over Valencia on Thursday, Madrid will move level on issues with Barca if indeed they beat Real Sociedad on Sunday and exceed the Catalans because of their superior record head-to-head.
Sevilla, in third, and Valencia, in eighth, always looked capable of shifting the dynamic near the top of the table, with Madrid capitalising to climb back to the summit for the first time since they beat Barcelona on March 1.
A very important point for Sevilla gives them a five-point cushion above Getafe in fifth, albeit having played a casino game more.
Barca could have couple of problems at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
They never really troubled Sevilla for just about any prolonged period and the closest Lionel Messi found scoring the 700th goal of his career were some free-kicks tipped over.
The sight of goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen jogging up for a overdue corner demonstrated what size a blow they considered dropping points to be.
"Looking at what we've done in the last two rounds, it will likely be very hard to win this group," explained Barcelona's Gerard Pique later on.
"From what I've seen, it's very hard to see Real Madrid dropping points."
Real Sociedad remain in the search for Champions League qualification and can offer no guarantees about Sunday while video games against Getafe, Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal mean you may still find a good amount of hurdles for Legitimate Madrid to overcome.
Yet Barcelona would appear to really have the tougher run-found in, with Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and native rivals Espanyol approaching.
Messi was well-contained by Sevilla and it could be the Argentinian was feeling the effects of a good third consecutive 90 a few minutes in nine days.
Coach Quique Setien chose not to rest his captain found in either of several comfortable wins above Leganes or True Mallorca.
Instead, Antoine Griezmann dropped to the bench, with Martin Braithwaite preferred in leading three together with Messi and Luis Suarez, who made his begin since January after dealing with a knee injury.
Sevilla's Jules Kounde shot just wide of the content in early stages but Barcelona manipulated the opening 30 minutes, even if chances were few in number.
Messi's curled free-kick was headed off the range by Kounde and Braithwaite nearly had a tap-found in when Tomas Vaclik spilled, however the ball was hacked apart.
The half ended with a scuffle and Messi was in the centre of it, squaring up to and pushing over Sevilla's centre back Diego Carlos. Messi was unhappy with Carlos' challenge on Suarez but escaped punishment.
Ever Banega came in at half-period for Sevilla and gave them extra goal in midfield. Munir El Haddadi's shot from the position was palmed aside by Ter Stegen.
The game exposed in the final a quarter-hour as Jordi Alba produced a crucial block to avoid Munir's pass establishing an easy finish in the centre.
Alba might then have teed up successful too but Suarez swept the defender's pull-back above the bar.
Sergio Reguilon, on bank loan at Sevilla from Madrid, had the very best chance but he didn't connect along with his weaker right foot.
Source: www.thedailystar.net
