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Barcelona returns with first trophy of the season

MessiCelebrates (GettyImages)

The Spanish First Division season kicks off next weekend, but Barcelona kicked off its new campaign in grand fashion on Saturday, thumping Sevilla, 4-0, to win its record ninth Spanish Super Cup.

The victory, which gave Barcelona a 5-3 aggregate victory, came after a first leg that saw Sevilla beat a severely short-handed Barcelona squad, 3-1. Pep Guardiola fielded a full-strength squad in the second leg and the star of the show was once again Lionel Messi, who netted a hat-trick to go along with a Sevilla own goal. World Cup-winning stars Xavi and Andres Iniesta played their part in the rout, helping set up two of Messi's goals.

While winning the Spanish title will be even tougher this year against a Jose Mourinho-led Real Madrid, early indications are that Barcelona will be as potent as ever.

Here are the highlights:

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Comments

  1. You are crazy! Check the stats in the last 5 years. The EPL has more teams standing with it’s all said and done. While Man-u or Chelsea are chasing a CL trophy, they still have to go back to the EPL and face off Liverpool,Tottenham,Everton,Man-city,Asenal,etc… while Barca & Madrid face off, Balboa,Deportivo,Osasuna,etc…lol please dawg, juist stop. The Two top teams in la Liga have it much easier do to the teams they face off during the regular season. Of course they come in Champions league well rested, they play No ONE in La liga.lol People are still stuck in the 80’s with this whole La liga being better. Everyone wants to play in the EPL nowadays. It’s the best league in the world.

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  2. Good for Messi. But the picture above should be, XAVI & INIESTA! 😉 I really can’t wait to see Messi without these two Gods of futbol.

    My opinion, Xavi & Iniesta are the BEST midfielders in teh WORLD! Any NT with these two in the midfield can be said to be favorite in any cup tournament.

    Messi is a great player, top 10 no doubt. But ahead of Xavi & Iniesta, well, not in my opinion. Messi will never win a world cup in Argentina, sad, but true.

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  3. La Liga is the better league. The EPL has far more sub-par teams than Spain.

    bla bla, why don’t you compare Barca’s performance against English teams, hmmmm?

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  4. All the EPL-only fans come marching in to deride Spanish football. Full disclosure I am a Barca fan. However, even Real Madrid would beat every team in the EPL on a daily basis. If Barca and Real were in the EPL they would finish 1-2 virtually every year.

    La Liga only seems like a 2 team race because the 2 best teams are really just that much better than every one else in Europe. The 3 and 4 teams in La Liga would compete for those same 2 spots if they were in the EPL.

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  5. Not difficult to “be in the right place” when you are playing in front of guys who complete an insane percentage of their passes.

    My original post was intended to be provocative, so I will take back calling him “average” and say he is “good.” He is no Zidane (my favorite player of all time).

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  6. yes of course, its very easy to always be in the exact right place at the right time, perfectly prepared so that the shot don’t have to be difficult. (roll eyes)

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  7. am no Barca hater, but somebody need to teach them La liga boys how to slide tackle and foul on purpose..

    at times it looks like they let barca roll dem

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  8. I’ve always found Xavi and Iniesta quite underrated. Goals grab headlines, as we all know.

    However, to say Messi is overrated is pure poppycock.

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  9. lol Madrid would pay 200 million for Messi if Messi would agree to go. No question in my mind.

    Barcelona aren’t just as potent as ever, they’re more potent with Villa, who’s a much better fit than Ibra.

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  10. We all know knucklehead Maradona played Messi out of position during the WC therefore greatly diminishing his effectiveness!

    Why tinker with a Ferrari!

    We also know that he will be busy destroying defenses all season long.

    Good luck with Numero Dos again this year!

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  11. Okay…I understand your point… but, AVERAGE player?!?!?!!?

    Come on, BCC, that is just ridiculous. Absolutely true that Xavi and Iniesta make him look great, but he is far from AVERAGE.

    He is an absolutely class player and is even better with Xavi’s pinpoint through balls making things easier. Have you not seen create for himself? He can do so as well, if not better than anyone in the world (save maybe Cristiano Ronaldo).

    And by the way, I’m a United fan, so I’d say I’m a third party neutral in this discussion. Okay, I’m done.

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  12. After watching Messi in the World Cup and with his club, I have come to the conclusion that he is an average player unless supported by an amazing midfield. Yes, I said it: he is overrated.

    And I am a Real Madrid fan. If I could steal anything or anyone from Barca, it would be Xavi and Iniesta — they can keep Messi.

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  13. Messi aren’t your bored of winning so much in Spain – don’t you think the brutality of MLS offers a bigger challenge at this point?

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  14. All beautiful goals (even the own goal), but I was most impressed by the perfectly weighted 50-yard through ball on the second goal. Wow.

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