Spanish top side Barcelona has ended a torrid 2021 disappointingly with a La Liga draw at 10-man Sevilla. Xavi’s men failed to find a win that would have capped the year for them and taken them up to fourth place position in the La Liga table.
Sevilla led following a training-ground move from a corner, as Ivan Rakitic rolled the ball into the area for Alejandro Gomez’s first-time finish. Ronald Araujo’s header leveled the scores before half-time. Chelsea target Jules Kunde was sent off for throwing the ball at Jordi Alba, Barcelona could not still capitalize on that as the game ended 1-1.
The visitors created lots of chances against the hosts. Gavi could not find the target with his free header and also, France International Ousmane Dembele could not find the net with his curler which was against the post with six minutes remaining. On-loan striker Luuk de Jong came on as a substitute and could have netted against his parent club deep in injury-time, but a weak header was straight at Sevilla goalkeeper Bono.
Xavi’s side does move up one spot to seventh, while second-placed Sevilla failed to make up ground on league leaders Real Madrid and are now five points behind Carlo Ancelotti’s men. Barcelona will travel to Mallorca in their next game on 2 January, hoping 2022 will be better for them after losing superstar Lionel Messi on a free transfer, and sacking manager Ronald Koeman.