Barcelona Back to Leave Real Madrid, Next Target Newcastle United

Barcelona again left Real Madrid in the race for the Spanish LaLiga title after beating Sevilla 5-2 in a duel at the Camp Nou Stadium, Sunday, March 15, 2026 early morning WIB. Furthermore, Barca is targeting Newcastle in the second leg of the Champions League 16.

Barca managed to keep the points gap with Madrid. Previously, Madrid had overshadowed Barca after winning 4-1 over Elche. They cut the points gap to just one.

However, Barca managed to get three points in the match against Sevilla. Forward Raphinha showed his sharpness by scoring a hat-trick and the first two goals came from the penalty spot.

A satisfying victory as Barca confirmed their position at the top of the table with 70 points. Four points ahead of Madrid who are in second place.

The rivalry between them is not over yet because the competition still has 10 more matches left. Including El Clasico when Barca hosts Madrid on May 11, 2026. This will be the deciding factor for both teams.

Meanwhile, Sevilla who failed to add points were stuck at the bottom of the table. They are ranked 14th with 31 points. The same as Rayo Vallecano but Sevilla has a goal difference. Sevilla is also five points ahead of Elche who are in the relegation zone.

After meeting the target of winning at home, Barca also targeted the midweek match when hosting Newcastle in the Champions League. In the first match, Barca was only able to play a 1-1 draw. They have to win to eliminate the English Premier League team.

"Finally, three points added when one match was reduced. And, we scored five goals. This is a satisfactory result," said coach Hansi Flick who stated that Lamine Yamal et al. are now focusing on the next match.

"We have to refocus on the next game because Newcastle is obviously a strong team. Not that I think negatively, but we have to be alert and I want to get better results," he said again.

Barca themselves started the match easily. There was no fierce resistance from Sevilla and they were immediately ahead through two penalties when the match was only 20 minutes. Barca's goal celebration was opened by Raphinha who broke the visiting team's goal when the match was only nine minutes.

The goal was created from a penalty following a foul committed by Djibril Sow against defender Joao Cancelo. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and Raphinha successfully converted it.

The 1-0 advantage made Barca more aggressive in pressing the opponent's defense. The Blaugrana's effort again bore fruit from the penalty spot in the 21st minute. Again, Cancelo was brought down in the penalty box.

This time, defender Jose Angel Carmona committed a foul so the referee again gave a penalty. Raphinha for the second time completed the execution. Even though goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos moved in the right direction, he still failed to reach the ball.

Sevilla's players were more depressed after conceding two goals from the penalty. They struggled to develop the game and were more often attacked, forcing Fabio Alvarez's team to defend more.

However, their efforts were still in vain because Barca was able to add another goal. This time the midfielder Dani Olmo who strengthened Barca's advantage in the 38th minute. This goal started from a cross kick by midfielder Marc Bernal which hit the Sevilla player. However, the ball was then received by Olmo who completed the opportunity to score.

After falling behind 3-0, Sevilla was finally able to bounce back. Moreover, the Barca players slowed down the tempo of the game. Through an attack built by Juanlu Sanchez and then passed the ball cross-field towards the Barca goal.

The opportunity was well taken by Oso who was completely unaccompanied by the Barca defender. He easily defeated goalkeeper Joan Garcia when the match entered the first half injury time. The score changed to 3-1.

Entering the second half with the lead, Barca played again aggressively. As a result, the hosts didn't take long to add a goal. Raphinha completed the goal by scoring a hattrick after completing Fermin Lopez's assist in the 51st minute.

Furthermore, Cancelo finally broke the opponent's goal to strengthen Barca's advantage after his kick managed to beat goalkeeper Vlachodimos in the 60th minute. The score changed to 5-1 for Barca.

Sevilla, who were helpless, only got an entertainment goal towards the end of the match. Sow successfully broke Barca's goal to change the score to 5-2 in the 90+2 minute. The score remained until the end of the match.