Two crucial events highlight Barcelona midfielder’s roller coaster outing against Sevilla | OneFootball

FC Barcelona were able to get the desired result from a tricky visit to the Sanchez Pizjuan last night as they beat Sevilla with a 1-4 scoreline. This win allowed the Catalans to take advantage of the draw between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on Saturday and cut down their deficit at the top of the La Liga table to 2 points.

In one of the more bizarre storylines of the season, Fermin Lopez ended up making a key contribution for the Blaugrana side in this game, despite the fact that his presence on the pitch was limited only to 17 minutes.

As Mundo Deportivo has noted, the midfielder had a roller coaster of a night, as he got onto the pitch for the second half of the game, mainly because Hansi Flick decided to sub Gavi, who suffered a blow and also had a yellow card to his name, out during the half-time break.

Lopez had the best possible start to his game, as his very first touch on the ball ended up in being the second goal for Barcelona, which gave the Blaugranes a 2-1 lead after the first half had ended with a 1-1 scoreline.

The La Masia graduate showed great quality as he made his way into the box and perfectly read Pedri’s cross to head home for a goal. This goal would have meant even more for him as he belongs to a family of Real Betis fans, the other Andalusian team, and the traditional rivals of Sevilla.

However, the euphoria for this goal was not to last long, as only in the 62nd minute, he got a red card for a sliding tackle on Djibril Sow. He was initially shown only a yellow card, but after consultation with VAR, the referee deemed it was a violation worthy of direct expulsion.

One can argue that this expulsion was rather harsh, as it was not clear whether his upturned studs had hit the Sevilla player. But ultimately, it was a mixed night for the Barcelona midfielder in the truest sense of the word, one from which he will hopefully learn.