Sevilla 2-1 Barcelona
- Published
Barcelona lost to Sevilla as they suffered their second La Liga defeat of the season, despite Neymar's penalty.
The Brazil forward converted a 74th-minute penalty after Sevilla left-back Benoit Tremoulinas handled inside the penalty area but Barca could not level.
Striker Michael Krohn-Dehli put Sevilla ahead in the 52nd minute and he then set up midfielder Vicente Iborra to score for the hosts six minutes later.
Sevilla's victory was their first at home against Barca in seven years.
Barcelona have now lost consecutive away games in La Liga following their 4-1 defeat to Celta Vigo on 23 September.
Luis Enrique's side have 15 points from seven games, a point behind leaders Villarreal who are away to Levante on Sunday.
Also on Sunday fourth-placed Real Madrid, on 14 points, take on city rivals Atletico Madrid who are one place and two points below them.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Granada held Deportivo La Coruna to a 1-1 draw.
Is Barcelona's crown slipping?
The La Liga season may only be seven games old but there are signs that Barcelona's defence of their title might not be as straightforward as they hoped.
Barca are still serving a 14-month transfer ban imposed by Fifa after being found guilty of breaching rules on the transfer of players aged under 18.
They added defender Aleix Vidal and midfielder Arda Turan to their squad in the summer, but neither player is eligible to play until January.
Coach Enrique will hope they can inject fresh impetus into a side that perhaps feels a little stale without new blood.
How much of a miss is Messi?
Barcelona are without Lionel Messi until the end of next month as he recovers from the knee ligament injury picked up in last weekend's 2-1 win over Las Palmas.
The Catalan club made hard work of their opponents on that occasion and had to come from behind to beat Bayer Leverkusen by the same scoreline in the Champions League during the week.
Against Sevilla the defending La Liga champions were a little unfortunate as they struck the post five times at the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
Nevertheless Barca missed the Messi's brilliance and clinical finishing despite the presence of Uruguay forward Luis Suarez and Neymar.
Spanish football journalist Eduardo Alvarez told BBC World Service: |
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"Barcelona were not playing well before Messi got injured. |
"But they've lost the best player in the world. It's up to Neymar and Suarez to take control of the team now." |
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