MADRID: Barcelona continued their record-breaking start to a La Liga season by beating Sevilla 2-1 thanks to Paco Alcacer’s double on Saturday with atmosphere at the Camp Nou once again marked by political upheaval in Catalonia.
A huge Catalan flag and banners reading “justice” in Catalan and English were displayed before kick-off after eight ministers of the Catalan government deposed by Madrid were detained pending a possible trial for their roles in the drive for Catalan independence.
Loud cries of “freedom” also rang around Europe’s largest stadium sporadically throughout the 90 minutes.
Messi-inspired Barcelona off to best-ever start
Two other banners reading “Freedom for political prisoners” and “Europe shame on you” were held up by the Barca singing section behind one of the goals.
Barca coach Ernesto Valverde last week joked such off-field distractions appeared to be helping his side and once again they weren’t fazed in registering a 10th win in their opening 11 La Liga matches.
“The team are showing that is isn’t a distraction,” said Valverde. “People come to the Camp Nou to express themselves peacefully and support their team. We play for them.”
The hosts could have scored thrice in the opening 10 minutes as Clement Lenglet cleared off the line from Sergio Busquets, David Soria denied Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic fired a long-range effort inches wide.
Political cloud still hangs over Camp Nou and Barcelona
Alcacer was the surprise choice in Valverde’s starting line-up and he opened the scoring on his first league start since the first day of the season.
“You have to take the chance given to you by the coach,” Alcacer told BeIN Sports Spain. “More than my game, you have to look at it from a team perspective and these games where you are made to suffer mean more.”
Barca travel to Valencia on November 26 and Los Che remain their closest challengers, four points back, as they swept aside Leganes 3-0 for a club record seventh straight league win.
“We are top, we aren’t dropping points and we are going into the international break happy,” added Valverde. “Afterwards we have a tough schedule, we have strong rivals behind us and we need to remain srong to stay on top.”
Valencia coach Marcelino Garcia Toral echoed Valverde. “No one will go undefeated through 38 games, but we are going to enjoy the moment,” he said. “In the dressing room there is no euphoria, there is realism and constant analysis. We know how difficult it will be to keep this up, it’s practically impossible.”
Atletico Madrid’s struggle for goals continues but Diego Simeone’s men were bailed out by Thomas Partey’s 91st-minute winner in a 1-0 victory at Deportivo la Coruna.
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from The Express Tribune http://ift.tt/2hHAAqL
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