Xavi wins his final game as manager of Barcelona against Sevilla on last day of LaLiga
With little riding on the result, fans inside the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan leant into the emotion of a farewell battle between two managers who won’t be leading their sides out of the tunnel next season. And Barca looked to be sending their boss off on a high note with 15 minutes gone, as they rolled back the years for a goal that any of their title-winning sides would have been proud of.
A cheeky Pedri back-heel was rolled into the feet of Joao Cancelo, who picked out Robert Lewandowski with a brilliant floated cross which the Polish forward finished acrobatically.
However, it was not all one-way traffic, with Sevilla striking back just after the half-hour mark courtesy of Youssef En-Nesyri’s close-range finish after a defence-splitting Boubakary Soumare pass.
n a fast-paced affair, both sides were at full tilt as half time loomed, with Pedri smashing the bar before Sevilla midfielder Boubakary Soumare hit the woodwork himself with a rifled header that had Marc-André ter Stegen planted in the visitor’s net.
Having won the last four league meetings, Barcelona appeared confident they would eventually break a stern Sevilla defence, led by ex-Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos, as they zipped the ball around the pitch.
And, after a spell of dominance, Xavi would surely have been proud of his young star Fermín Lopez, who brilliantly slammed home from the edge of the box to restore the Catalan’s lead at the hour mark.
Finishing the season in a disappointing 14th place, the hosts never looked likely to mount another response as Barcelona continued to dominate the middle of the park, eventually seeing out the game in relative comfort. It is a triumphant end to Xavi’s reign, but La Liga’s silver medal is never enough for a side with a cabinet as trophy-laden as the Blaugrana’s, and it will now be the turn of German Hansi Flick to write the next chapter in the club’s esteemed history.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Fermin Lopez (Barcelona)
Check out the match stats here.
