Suarez, Munir strikes edge Barca towards Super Cup

Barcelona took a commanding step towards lifting the Spanish Super Cup after second half strikes from Luis Suarez and Munir El Haddadi sealed a 2-0 win at Sevilla on Sunday.

>>Reuters
Published : 15 August 2016, 00:24 AM
Updated : 15 August 2016, 00:24 AM

Suarez, the top scorer in La Liga last season, broke the deadlock against an impressive Sevilla side with a low finish in the 53rd minute and substitute Munir doubled their lead in the tie before Wednesday's second leg at the Nou Camp barely five minutes after coming on.

Despite a bright start, Barca struggled for large periods of the game at the Sanchez Pizjuan and Luis Enrique was forced to make first half substitutions as defender Jeremy Mathieu and midfield maestro Andres Iniesta were forced off with injuries.

With Neymar on Olympic Games duty with Brazil, Luis Enrique fielded Arda Turan behind Lionel Messi and Suarez in an otherwise familiar looking Barca side.

Luis Enrique's opposite number Jorge Sampaoli made his home bow at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium after coming so close to beating Real Madrid to the UEFA Super Cup last week in his first competitive game in charge of Sevilla.

There were further signs that Sevilla have adapted quickly to the former Chile coach's intense brand of football, although they could have fallen behind early on.

Sergio Busquets carved a pass into the path of Suarez, who turned his marker effortlessly but drilled his shot straight at Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico.

That chance aside, Sevilla controlled the first period, overpowering Barca in midfield and winning corner after corner although also struggling to produce clear cut chances.

Iniesta's injury allowed former Sevilla player Denis Suarez to make his first competitive appearance for Barcelona after rejoining the club from Villarreal.

He crafted Barca's opener, finding space in midfield and playing a delightful ball which Turan chested down into the path of Suarez, who drilled the ball into the bottom corner.

The goal rocked Sevilla and put the wind in Barca's sails and it looked inevitable that they would extend their lead.

Barely a minute after scoring, Suarez teed up Messi but Rico punched the Argentine's dinked effort away, and the young goalkeeper denied Sergi Roberto at the near post.

Munir banished Sevilla's hopes of finding a way back into the game when he latched onto Messi's low pass and knocked the ball beyond Rico with a flick of the outside of his boot, making for the same scoreline by which Barca beat Sevilla in last season's Kings' Cup final.