Lopez Shines and Suffer Red as Barcelona Beat Sevilla to Close Gap on Leaders Real Madrid

Fermin Lopez made a dramatic impact in a 15-minute spell, scoring and then being sent off, as Barcelona narrowed the gap to just two points behind Real Madrid at the top of La Liga with an impressive victory at Sevilla.

The match was level at halftime, but Lopez was brought on as a substitute and wasted no time, putting Barcelona ahead with a header into the bottom corner on his first touch.

However, his joy was short-lived as he was shown a straight red card for a knee-high challenge on Djibril Sow, following a VAR review.

Earlier in the match, Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring in the seventh minute, netting his 19th goal of the season after tapping in a header from Inigo Martinez. Just a minute later, Ruben Vargas equalized for Sevilla, pouncing on a pass from former Barcelona midfielder Saul Niguez to score.

Sevilla thought they had regained the lead shortly after Lopez’s header, but Vargas’ goal was ruled out for offside. The hosts also had strong claims for a penalty after Sow collided with Jules Kounde, but the referee waved them away.

Just before Lopez’s red card, Raphinha made it 3-1 with a right-footed strike from outside the box. Barcelona sealed their victory late on when Eric Garcia scored with a header at the back post.

With Real Madrid and second-placed Atletico Madrid drawing 1-1 in their city derby, Barcelona, under coach Hansi Flick, took full advantage of both teams dropping points.

Barcelona’s next match is at home against sixth-placed Rayo Vallecano on Monday, February 17. Meanwhile, Sevilla, currently in 13th place, will travel to Valladolid a day earlier.