Barcelona Luis Suarez nets winner in second half for Barcelona

As it happened

Barcelona overcame an early deficit to down Sevilla 2-1 on Sunday evening in what was a thrilling encounter at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Sevilla.

Lionel Messi scored late in the first half to cancel out Vitolo's early strike, before Luis Suarez won it just after the hour mark to give the Catalonians the three points.

Barcelona and Sevilla never seem to fail to entertain when they meet at the Sanchez Pizjuan, and Sunday was no different. It was heart-pounding football for the entire 90 minutes with a back-and-forth rhythm that yielded a number of chances for both sides. While Sevilla were the dominant side in the first 45 minutes, they still found themselves tied at the break. Barcelona then went on to control things in the second half and grabbed the winner that keeps them just two points off the top of the table.

The inclusion of Denis Suarez in the Barcelona midfield was the eye-catcher in Luis Enrique's starting XI. In addition, Gerard Pique's injury paved the way for another start for Samuel Umtiti start at centre-back.

Inside the first three minutes, the two teams traded good scoring chances in which Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen swallowed up a Luciano Vietto chance before Sevilla stopper Sergio Rico denied Luis Suárez. In particular, Sevilla's Vitolo came out hungry as a wolf and it was the Las Palmas youth product who got the game's first goal right at the quarter-hour mark. Sergi Roberto whiffed on a pass that was swung out wide left for Vitolo, who then bounded toward goal before slipping a shot past Ter Stegen for the 1-0 Sevilla lead.

Sevilla were by the far the more intense side and they made Barcelona extremely uncomfortable. Jorge Sampaoli's men ran their socks off and were not afraid to make a crunching tackle anytime one of Barcelona playmakers got loose. It evoked memories of the 2015 Copa America final when Sampaoli's Chile managed to completely nullify Argentina's Lionel Messi. In Sevilla on Sunday, La Pulga faced the same challenges of being suffocated by the opposing defence.

Sevilla's attackers continued to win the battle against the Barcelona defence and Vietto was a hair away from doubling the lead just after the half-hour mark when his shot from the narrowest of angles skipped wide. The Andalusians were very assured in their football and without the solidity of Pique in the back, Sevilla's pressure on Barcelona bore a number of chances, including another one for Vitolo whose shot went wide.

The hosts would end up ruing the missed chance, as Barcelona mounted their best attack of the day minutes before half-time and equalised through Messi. Neymar led a counter-attack and held on long enough to get the Sevilla defence to commit before leaving a pass for Messi who curled in past Rico for the goal.

The frenetic pace continued into the second half. Both teams again had good looks at goal, but slowly Barcelona began to impose their will and started pegging Sevilla back. A genius back-heel from Luis Suarez off a pass from Denis Suarez set up Messi, but the Argentine fired wide. Minutes later Messi was off the mark again when he blazed over the crossbar after a brilliant slalom through the Sevilla defence. But Messi the playmaker can be just as lethal as Messi the goal-scorer and right on the hour mark served up on a silver platter an chance for Luis Suarez on the right and the Uruguayan finished with aplomb past Rico to give Barcelona a 2-1 lead.

Suarez again was set up with a great chance, this time thanks to a brilliant pass from Neymar, but this time the former Liverpool man fired wide with Messi standing all alone in front of goal just a few yards back. Sevilla's Steven N'Zonzi was next to feel the pain of a near miss, as his header flew inches wide off a corner kick. That was followed by a sensational save from Rico, who denied Luis Suarez from close-range.

The match was still very much in doubt as the clock ticked into the final 10 minutes and the already hot atmosphere inside the Sanchez Pizjuan reached a boiling point when the home fans lustily whistled Messi who was issued a yellow card for not leaving the pitch quickly enough to re-tie his shoe. It was only fitting that in the final 30 seconds Neymar spurned a golden chance, giving Sevilla one last shot that could have seen a penalty called against Umtiti.

In the end there was no whistle and Barcelona will surely feel relieved to depart the famed stadium with the win and three points.

Next up for Luis Enrique's men is a home date on November 19 versus Malaga following the international break.