Barcelona were not on their best game, but they certainly did enough to win on most nights. However, Sevilla deserved their point, and they deserved it because their goalkeeper Javi Varas put in the performance of his life and perhaps the best performance you'll see by a goalkeeper anywhere in the world this season. His stoppage time save of a Lionel Messi penalty was just one of eight saves from the Rojiblancos keeper, and that doesn't even count his other claims of crosses or altered shots. It was a performance for the ages, and his team have walked away from Camp Nou with a 0-0 draw as a result of his brilliance.
Barcelona Vs. Sevilla Live, 2011 La Liga: Full Time, Javi Varas Stunning, Rojiblancos Nick Draw
The defense in front of him played well, but with an average keeper behind them, Barcelona probably would have score three or four. The Blaugranas had plenty of clear cut chances in the beginning 60 minutes of the game, but the draw looked highly likely until stoppage time. Then, things went a bit crazy.
Andres Iniesta went down in the box in the 91st minute, drawing a penalty. Federico Fazio was the man called for the foul and he did make contact, but Iniesta was on the way down before the contact was made. Before Lionel Messi had a chance to take the penalty kick, a fight broke out between Cesc Fabregas and Frederic Kanoute, in which the former said something particularly inflammatory and the latter threw a punch. Needless to say, Kanoute was sent off.
Varas brilliantly saved Messi’s penalty, but that wasn’t the end of the attacks. In the 96th minute, Julien Escuede took down Pedro just outside of the penalty area, resulting in a free kick. Escuede felt that Pedro dived and ran to the official to argue, along with Fernando Navarro. This, of course, constituted dissent. Both players were shown yellow cards, Navarro his second. Messi’s ensuing free kick was blocked and the final whistle blew, giving Sevilla an improbable point.
For more on the Blaugranas, check out Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We’ll have live coverage all of the action from Spain in our La Liga Week 8 StoryStream. For more on the entire world of footy, head over to SB Nation Soccer.
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