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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