Cristiano who? Messi back in business as rival takes a break

The Argentine hit back after comments made by former Barca assistant Angel Cappa saying that he had lost his passion for the game, and shone as Ronaldo sat out with a ban

All eyes were on Lionel Messi. Had he really lost his passion for football? Barcelona's former assistant coach Angel Cappa had said so earlier this week following the Argentine's patchy performance in the 3-2 defeat to Valencia last weekend. But on a wet and windy night in Seville, Messi proved his enthusiasm for the game remains very much intact.

Things didn't start well. Messi dropped deep into midfield to look for the ball as Barcelona enjoyed the early possession but looked unlikley to do much with it.

And then Sevilla scored. Barca's defending was all at sea and, although Alberto Moreno's strike took a fortunate deflection to beat Victor Valdes, Ivan Rakitic had been allowed time and space to race into the area. Things then almost got worse for the visitors as Sevilla struck the post before Unai Emery's men wasted a wonderful opportunity on the counterattack, with Rakitic firing wide. After half an hour, Barca could have been three behind.

Meanwhile, Messi remained a peripheral figure. That soon changed, however, as he curled a delightful free kick into the path of Alexis Sanchez for the Chilean to head home - albeit from an offside position - to level the scores. Moments can change games and that looked like a significant one: afterwards, Sevilla were never quite the same, while Barca - and Messi - grew in stature.