An entertaining match came in place and a night to remember in all UEFA club competitions at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi, Georgia when nine goals in a 5-4 FC Barcelona victory over back-to-back Europa League champions Sevilla FC gave the Catalan and European treble winning side the UEFA Super Cup and their fourth title of 2015, repeating the feat of 2009 and 2011, when they won the UEFA Super Cup and went on to win five and six titles in those years, respectively.

This trophy was also the 24th trophy for clearly the best player on the pitch tonight for Lionel Messi, who came back to play in his first compeititve match since the Copa America in Chile last month.

A tale of first half goals

It was a tale of various goals made in the first half of the match mostly coming from free kicks. The first attempt on goal came in around the third minute after a foul by Javier Mascherano to Sevilla captain Jose Antonio Reyes just by the edge of the box.

Ever Banega took his free kick as he curled his shot past the left hand side of the goal to open the score in the third minute of the match, as the Europa League champions took the lead and not allowing Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to not move an inch, particularly in due to his bad positioning in goal.

The lead would not last long for Barcelona as they got a response four minutes later. Barcelona were awarded a free kick at the edge of the box, roughly around the same position that.

Lionel Messi took his shot on the right hand side of the pitch as his shot just strides past Beto with his inch-perfect free kick. It was sign of deja vu only ten minutes later when a foul by Banega on Ivan Rakitic gave the treble winning side a free kick roughly a few yards more than the first goal.

But just like the second goal, Lionel Messi made no mistake as he also curled his shot past the Sevilla goalkeeper for his first ever career free kick brace and 24th career goal against Sevilla.

The Blaugrana would get one more just before halftime when Luis Suarez’s shot was deflected by Beto, meaning he would continue with the ball and with poor defending by Sevilla, he allowed to give the perfectly timed ball to Rafinha to finish to make it 3-1.

A perfect comeback

Heading into the second half, it was an entirely different game in Georgia. In the 52nd minute, a ball from Sergio Busquets after a giveaway pass by a Sevilla player allowed the midfielder Benoît Trémoulinas, allowed the midfielder to calmly deliver the ball to Luis Suarez and finish past Beto to cushion a three goal lead.

However, Sevilla did not give up, which was one of the most entertaining parts of the entire match. Only five minutes later after the fourth Barcelona goal, a cross given by Vitolo allowed the captain Reyes to finish past Ter Stegen to start the comeback.

They were not done yet as Vitolo was given a penalty after he was taken down in the box by Jeremy Mathieu which allowed Kevin Grameiro to take his spot kick as he slamed it in down the left and although Ter Stegen went the right way, the German goalkeeper was unable to reach it.

The comeback was completed just nine minutes from full time as Marc Bartra tamely gave the ball to new man Ciro Immobile as the Italian was able to play a perfect ball across goal to put it towards Yevhen Konoplyanka and put Sevilla back on level terms and send the game to extra time for only the fifth time in UEFA Super Cup history, with the fact that this was already the biggest Super Cup tally in history with eight goals.

Pedrito wins it for Barça

Pedro Rodriguez came onto the pitch in extra time, with rumors speculating that this would be his last Barcelona match with a move to Manchester United imminent, following reports made by a club team director. It wasn’t a first extra time half to be worthy about as not much happened between the two sides during the first 15 minutes.

In the remaining 15 minutes, it was a dramatic and nerve wracking time. And just like he did in 2009 against Shakhtar Donetsk when he won the match in extra time, 5 minutes from full time, the Spanish World and European champion  was able to secure the win with his shot into the open net with a half-volley towards the bottom corner following a Messi free kick that went straight into the wall from very close range, which Beto was unable to get.

Sevilla however did forge just one last chance to force the game into a dramatic penalty shootout after ten goals as Immobile gave a great ball across the six-yard box from the right but it came towards Adil Rami who wasn’t able to react quickly enough as the ball deflects just wide off the inside of the defender's thigh. 

Nevertheless, it was success after nine goals for the Catalans as they won their record fifth UEFA Super Cup, equalling the feat made by AC Milan as they now look to get their second ever sextuple with a two leg tie between Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, representing UEFA against all the other continental champions. 

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About the author
Roberto Rojas
Writing about the beautiful game. Cohost of the @LowLimitFutbol Podcast.