The tempo of this game has dropped dramatically since Messi doubled the visitors' advantage. Sevilla seem to have accepted their defeat.
88'
Joan Jordán gets yellow.
Messi breezes past Jordan and the Sevilla midfielder unceremoniously grabs a fistful of the Argentine's shirt and hauls him back, earning himself a yellow card.
85'
L. Messi has scored a goal for Barcelona!
GOAL!! MESSI DOUBLES BARCELONA'S LEAD!! The Barcelona captain plays a quick one-two with Moriba on the left to get away from Jordan, before dancing past the challenge of Fernando and getting into the box. He's a little lucky as the ball breaks to him off the onrushing Bounou, allowing him to tap into an empty net! It's 2-0 to Barcelona now!
82'
O. Dembélé gets yellow.
S. Umtiti enters the game and replaces R. Araujo.
M. Braithwaite enters the game and replaces O. Dembélé.
Araujo, having come on earlier in the half, is forced off with an injury, meaning Umtiti takes his place at the back.
Koeman now makes a double-change of his own in an attempt to see out the game. Dembele is the first to come off, with Braithwaite replacing him.
Dembele is booked as the referee feels the forward takes too long to leave the field as he's being substituted.
75'
Sevilla win three corners in succession as they push forward in search of an equaliser, but they are unable to truly test the Barcelona defence and the set-pieces go to waste.
71'
I. Moriba enters the game and replaces Pedri.
Pedri is taken off now after going down off the ball with an injury. 18-year-old Moriba comes on to replace him, making just his third-ever appearance for the senior team.
67'
R. Araujo enters the game and replaces Piqué.
Koeman makes an interesting substitution, bringing Araujo on for Pique at centre-back. There doesn't appear to be any sign of injury to the departing defender.
63'
Óliver Torres enters the game and replaces L. de Jong.
Óscar Rodríguez enters the game and replaces I. Rakitić.
Former Barcelona midfielder Rakitic - who has been largely ineffectual - also departs, to be replaced by Rodríguez.
Lopetegui makes a double-change now, replacing De Jong with Torres in the first alteration.
57'
En-Nesyri is played in down the left side of the box and he fires a cross towards the near post, but it's a little too close to Ter Stegen, who takes it in confidently.
Minute
Description
55'
The game continues to be disrupted by the referee's whistle, with numerous stoppages for fouls across the pitch. It's been virtually impossible for the match to flow naturally.
49'
Sevilla do look more active in the opening stages of this half. They're pressing with greater urgency than hey were before the break.
46'
K. Rekik enters the game and replaces Diego Carlos.
K. Rekik gets yellow.
Suso enters the game and replaces P. Gómez.
Y. En-Nesyri enters the game and replaces M. El Haddadi.
Diego Carlos, who was on a yellow card, is also replaced, with Rekik taking his spot alongside Kounde in defence.
Gomez is also hooked on the opposite flank, with Suso coming on to take his place as Lopetegui alters his attack.
Lopetegui makes three changes at half-time as he looks for a vastly improved second-half performance. El Haddadi is off for En-Nesyri on the left wing in the first substitution.
The referee's yellow card is immediately back out, with Sevilla substitute Rekik going into the book for a foul on Pedri less than a minute after coming on.
We're back underway for the second half!
45' +1
HALF-TIME: SEVILLA 0-1 BARCELONA
45'
Sergio Escudero gets yellow.
Yet another yellow card is shown as Escudero slides in on Dest just outside the Sevilla box. The left-back is certain that he won the ball and is none too pleased to be booked.
44'
Messi catches Kounde's heels as the centre-back drives out from defence with the ball. A free-kick is awarded but Lopetegui goes berserk on the sidelines, asking for Messi to receive a second yellow card. The referee is unimpressed and books the Sevilla boss.
42'
L. Messi gets yellow.
Messi is now penalised as he mistimes his challenge on Fernando, catching the midfielder late and earning himself a yellow card.
38'
Diego Carlos gets yellow.
Diego Carlos follows team-mate Fernando into the book as he accidentally catches Messi in the face when grappling with him for control of the ball.
35'
Sevilla are really struggling to impose themselves in any way on this game. They're still yet to have a shot with just 10 minutes of the half remaining.
31'
Fernando gets yellow.
Fernando earns himself the game's first yellow card for a poor challenge on De Jong in the middle of the pitch.
29'
O. Dembélé has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by L. Messi.
GOAL!! BARCELONA LEAD!! Messi picks the ball up on the halfway line and slides a perfectly-weighted pass in behind for Dembele, who races between two Sevilla defenders and into the box before tucking a low shot through the goalkeeper's legs and into the far corner! It's 1-0 to Barcelona!
Messi was given plenty of space in the centre and exploited Sevilla's high line with a lovely pass into space for Dembele, who took the ball in his stride and knocked it past Bounou!
26'
Barcelona are slowly starting to exert some pressure on the Sevilla goal. The hosts have posed next to no threat so far in the contest.
24'
Messi swings a free-kick in from a deep position on the right and it curls sharply towards the near side of the goal, but Bounou is alert and gets across to hang on.
20'
Between them, De Jong and Fernando win the ball off Pedri in an advanced area, but the pair are thoroughly unimpressed as the referee blows up for another foul.
18'
A succession of fouls by Sevilla mars the rhythm of the game - they're doing their utmost to disrupt Barcelona's build-up.
15'
Sevilla have started with the left-footed El Haddadi on the left and the right-footed Gomez on the right as they look for natural width down the flanks, but they haven't had a great deal of opportunity to utilise their forward players just yet.
13'
Barcelona win a couple of corners off Fernando, but the visitors can't make the most of it and Sevilla are untroubled by the set-pieces.
11'
The visitors have settled on the ball a little now and are looking more confident in their control of proceedings. They're yet to take any real risks with their approach play, however.
9'
Dest is found in space on the right and whips the ball into the box, but Barcelona are lacking an aerial presence in the middle and Sevilla get the ball clear.
7'
Barcelona are edging possession but their build-up hasn't been smooth so far. There almost appears to be a little bit of nervousness in the team.
5'
It's been very cagey so far, with no goalmouth action to speak of to this point. Neither side has truly got into full flow yet.
3'
Interestingly, Koeman has opted for a back three today instead of the team's usual 4-3-3 shape. Perhaps he hopes a more conservative approach will bring success away from home.
1'
We're underway in Seville!
Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the LaLiga clash between Sevilla and Barcelona at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.
Fourth-placed Sevilla host third-placed Barcelona this afternoon as the pair look to close the gap on league leaders Atletico Madrid, who have hit something of a slump recently. The fixture is also a chance for Barcelona to get revenge after being beaten 2-0 at this ground in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final earlier this month, with the second leg scheduled for Wednesday.
Sevilla substitutes: Oscar Rodriguez, Oliver Torres, Suso, Youssef En-Nesyri, Aleix Vidal, Nemanja Gudelj, Tomas Vaclik, Sergi Gomez, Javi Diaz, Joris Gnagnon, Karim Rekik, Franco Vazquez.
Barcelona substitutes: Martin Braithwaite, Junior Firpo, Matheus Fernandes, Inaki Pena, Samuel Umtiti, Neto, Ronald Araujo, Antoine Griezmann, Riqui Puig, Ilaix Moriba, Trincao.
Barcelona XI (3-4-1-2): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Oscar Mingueza, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet; Sergino Dest, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Jordi Alba; Pedri; Ousmane Dembele, Lionel Messi.
Sevilla XI (4-2-3-1): Yassine Bounou; Jesus Navas, Jules Kounde, Diego Carlos, Sergio Escudero; Joan Jordan, Fernando; Alejandro Gomez, Ivan Rakitic, Munir El Haddadi; Luuk de Jong.
Lopetegui will certainly expect far more energy and desire from his team in the second half. They've been passive throughout the first 45 minutes and Messi was allowed to receive the ball, turn and play his pass with almost casual ease in the build-up to the goal. Barcelona have looked a little sluggish too, despite leading, but they have created a few chances and controlled the game well.
Barcelona and Sevilla will meet again on Wednesday as the former host the latter in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, with Barcelona needing to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit.
Thank you for joining our coverage, we hope you enjoyed the game. Until next time, goodbye!
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