Lewandowski and Torre at the double as Barcelona smash Sevilla in LaLiga
Ahead of next week’s El Clasico showdown, Barcelona were looking to restore their three-point lead at the top of the LaLiga standings, and Hansi Flick’s men got off to a fast start.
The Catalan outfit’s star player - Golden Boy nominated Lamine Yamal - was proving dangerous to the Sevilla backline along with Ansu Fati.
The latter had a great chance to open the scoring just after the quarter-hour mark but failed to hit the target after being picked out in the box.
The home crowd didn’t have to wait long to celebrate, however, as Raphinha was brought down in the danger area by Peque.
Robert Lewandowski continued his rich vein of goalscoring form, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and slotting his spot kick home for his 11th league goal this season.
One very quickly became two minutes later following a swift team move. Yamal drove into the box, and his reverse pass to the edge of the area was dummied by Jules Kounde, allowing Pedri to fire into the roof of the net.
Barca didn’t ease the pressure on a struggling Sevilla side, adding a third goal before half-time when a partially cleared corner dropped to Raphina, whose effort from outside the box was diverted in via Lewandowski.
Barca were unrelenting after the break and the hosts came close to adding a fourth within minutes of the restart but Yamal’s outrageous outside-of-the-foot shot from the edge of the box was superbly saved by Orjan Nyland.
The 17-year-old was clearly in the mood, playing a stunning through ball with the outside of his boot to send Raphinha through on goal, only for the Brazilian to be denied by a narrow offside call.
Three goals to the good, Flick used that as an opportunity to give Lewandowski and Raphinha a rest with 30 minutes remaining.
Nonetheless, the attacking threat continued for the home side as Fati found himself free in the box but the Spaniard lacked a clinical finish like his Polish counterpart as his header was comfortably saved.
Sevilla struggled to offer anything going forward, highlighted by the fact that the visitors failed to hit the target until the 87th minute when Stanis Idumbo added a late consolation between Pablo Torre firing in Barcelona’s fourth and fifth goals.
The win restores the Blaugrana’s three-point lead ahead of a heavyweight week in which Bayern Munich visit on Wednesday before the Catalans travel to Madrid for El Clasico.
After a toothless performance that ends a three-game unbeaten run, Sevilla will require vast improvement ahead of a return to Barcelona to face Espanyol.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)