Player Ratings : Sevilla 2-3 Barcelona

SEVILLA

Palop: 6.5 - While he could have done better with Pedro's long-range strike, he made a superb reaction save from Messi in the second half to keep Sevilla in the game.

Konko: 4.5 - Held off far too easily by Bojan for the second goal, and incomprehensibly pulled the youngster down to earn himself a second yellow card.

Fazio: 6 - He was defending adequately until another ankle injury cruelly ended his game after 30 minutes. It's yet another setback in the talented defender's career and his anguish was plain to see.

Escude: 5.5 - Couldn't get close to Messi to stop him scoring, and that set the tone for the evening as he didn't close down the visitors closely enough to deny them time and space in attack.

Adriano: 5 - Unable to cope defensively with Barcelona's movement and was beaten time after time, while he also played Messi onside - albeit marginally - for the first goal.

Navas: 5.5 - A very quiet evening on the right hand side for the Spanish international, who often found himself marginalised as Sevilla tried to move the ball from back to front as quickly as possible.

Zokora: 6.5 - Looked to be very frustrated in the first half but his quick thinking created the second goal and ensured a tight and tense end to the match.

Renato: 5.5 - Found it very difficult to create anything in the middle of the pitch as Barcelona kept him under close watch, and he was sacrificed by Antonio Alvarez for Stankevicius when Sevilla went down to 10 men.

Capel: 5.5 - Only had a few opportunities to get forward as Sevilla were outplayed in the middle of the pitch, and Dani Alves was often able to beat him on the right hand side with relative ease.

Kanoute: 6.5 - Wasn't discouraged by the lack of opportunities going his way but he kept a cool head after skipping past Puyol to fire past Valdes and reduce the deficit to 3-1.

Luis Fabiano 7 - Brought a brilliant save from Valdes in the first half but beat him in the second period with an excellent finish that crashed in off the post and gave Sevilla hope of getting a result.

Substitutes:

Squillacci: 5.5 - His forced introduction temporarily disturbed the balance of the Sevilla backline and that was enough to allow Bojan the space to race through on goal to score.

Stankevicius: 6.5 - Plugged the gap at right back after Konko's dismissal and made an excellent tackle on Messi late on.

Lolo: 6 - Replaced the injured Adriano in the second half and put in another solid defensive display.

BARCELONA

Valdes: 6 - Made a few good saves, including a superb reflex save from Luis Fabiano in the first half, to keep Sevilla at bay until he was let down by some poor defending.

Dani Alves: 7.5 - As usual he was very dangerous in the final third, setting up some clear-cut chances for the front three. Solid in defence, although his eagerness to get forward earned him a touchline berating from his coach.

Puyol: 5 - Clearly past his best now. He was caught napping as Kanoute raced past him to score the opener while he was not aware of Zokora taking a quick free kick until it was too late.

Pique: 6 - There was not a great deal of pressure to soak up from Sevilla, and Pique could count himself a little fortunate he was not penalised for a push on Kanoute in the penalty area in the second half.

Maxwell: 7 - Defended well and emulated his Brazilian compatriot on the other flank by getting forward and providing a superb assist for the opening goal.

Xavi: 8 - Despite carrying an injury he was outstanding yet again. He played a lot of clever chipped balls over the Sevilla defence with heavy backspin for the front three and one resulted in a goal for Bojan.

Busquets: 6.5 - He won a lot of balls in midfield and drew numerous fouls from Sevilla, frustrating their players and upsetting their rhythm.

Keita: 6.5 - Appeared to strain a muscle during the first half but soldiered on and provided good support for Maxwell and Abidal in a defensive capacity.

Messi: 7.5 - Had a lot of space in which to operate when he dropped deep. He scored a fantastic goal in the fifth minute while he should also have scored a second but missed from a few yards.

Bojan: 7.5 - Justified Pep Guardiola's decision to put him up front ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he tucked away his goal with real confidence, although he did miss an open goal in the second half.

Pedro: 7 - Caused a lot of problems for the Sevilla defence and scored the decisive third goal when he reacted quickly to a bouncing ball to strike past Palop from range.

Substitutes:

Abidal: 5.5 - Caught completely off-guard when Sevilla took a quick free kick to pull the score back to 3-2.

Toure: N/A - Replaced Xavi in the 87th minute.

Jeffren: N/A - Only had around 90 seconds on the pitch.