Barcelona escaped wet and windy Sevilla with a flattering victory thanks to goalscoring heroics from Lionel Messi, who followed up a fortuitous equaliser from Alexis Sanchez with a brace before Cesc Fabregas added the fourth.
The hosts earlier took the lead through Alberto Moreno and had more chances to go further ahead, but suffered for their wastefulness as Barca emphatically retaliated to return to the top of La Liga.
Sevilla were on top from the opening whistle and created the first openings when Kevin Gameiro and Vincente Iborra both had shots blocked in quick succession.
And it was no surprise when the hosts took the lead, with the classy Ivan Rakitic leading a slick passing move which resulted in Vitolo touching the ball onto Moreno, whose fierce low strike flew in via a deflection off Marc Bartra.
The hosts continued to press and came within a whisker of a second when Rakitic’s deep free-kick picked out the unmarked Federico Fazio and the Argentine defender crashed a header against the post.
Barca were failing to exert any attacking pressure and soon had another big let-off as Sevilla counter- attacked at pace, Carlos Bacca shrugged off a weak challenge from Gerard Pique and broke inside from the right to pick out Rakitic, who ignored the cries of the unmarked Vitolo to shoot but dragged his low effort wide.
But the Catalan club equalised in controversial and fortunate circumstances when Messi delivered a deep free-kick, the linesman failed to spot that Sanchez was offside, and although the Chilean missed his attempted header the ball glanced home off his back.
And with the rain pouring down, Barca took full advantage of their fortune to go ahead before halftime, with the previously poor Messi finishing off a rapid break by receiving a pass from Pedro on the edge of the box and teeing himself up for a sublime half-volley into the bottom right corner.
Sevilla nearly levelled early in the second half when Vitolo appeared to foul Martin Montoya but was allowed to run unchallenged towards goal, only to drag his shot wide of the left-hand post.
The visitors were looking much brighter, though, and Sanchez fizzed a crossshot narrowly wide as they went in search of a third goal.
But Barca were soon indebted to goalkeeper Victor Valdes for a fabulous double-save, first keeping out Bacca’s curler and quickly getting up to deflect wide Gameiro’s followup effort.
However, Messi then reasserted his presence to score his second and his team’s third, receiving a pass from Andres Iniesta in his stride and beautifully curling a precise shot into the bottom left corner via the inside of the post.
Boosted by the two-goal lead, Barca proceeded to play with renewed confidence, overcoming the numerous puddles on the Sanchez Pizjuan surface to produce slick passing football.
Substitute Fabregas added a late fourth, receiving a pass from Sanchez and clipping classily home.
MAN OF THE MATCH – Lionel Messi
For 44 minutes, he was extremely poor. Then he scored a brilliant goal to give his team the lead, and soon followed it up with an almost equally impressive strike to make the points safe. This was far from vintage Messi, but he was undoubtedly the difference between the sides.
MATCH VERDICT
With the assistance of a heavy dose of fortune, Barcelona overcame a terrible first half to return to the top of La Liga, and Messi’s rediscovery of his goalscoring heroics could prove to be the best long-term news they could have wished for. Sevilla can take heart from their performance but will know they could have won this game.
