Coaching Barcelona comes with some of the highest pressure in the footballing world, and Luis Enrique's determination to continue in such an environment is under some doubt. While there's no suggestion that the Asturian will walk away from the Camp Nou anytime soon, his contract is up at the end of the season and so far talks have been delayed to April by Luis Enrique. The Blaugrana sought an extension at the end of last season but the 46-year-old has lingering thoughts about moving on after four years in Catalunya and taking a break from football. Key to his decision will be how the season pans out, with success vital to the continuation of his spell, as well as his relationship with the players, which is currently positive after a few terse moments in years gone by. Of course, a sabbatical after four years in charge of Barcelona would mirror the actions undertaken by Pep Guardiola, and with no coach surpassing that time period since Johan Cruyff's tenure last century, it may become something of a natural shelf life for Blaugrana bosses.
The excellent tactical knowledge of the former Chile coach and the way in which his staff followed his pre-match instructions to the letter were a joy to watch in the opening exchanges, and this was always going to be one of the Blaugrana's sternest tests despite having comfortably beaten the Andalusians home and away in the Supercopa de Espana at the beginning of the season.Since those reverses, Sevilla had lost just once against Athletic Club and came into Sunday's epic encounter on the back of six wins from their last seven and a 100 percent home record. The warning signs were there for Barcelona long before Vitolo poked the hosts into a 15th-minute lead and at times it appeared that Sampaoli was using an ultra attacking 3-2-5 formation, morphing into a 5-3-2 when defending.
Incessant raiding from all areas of the pitch was expected - and delivered - and Sampaoli's famous mantra of "why practice one religion when there are another nine to choose from," looked to have rubbed off on his staff, who interchanged positions at will. Not good enough for Pep Guardiola, Samir Nasri showed what an astute buy he had been in the summer. There wasn't a single moment in the first half where Sevilla appeared to be under any sort of pressure from the fabled MSN and others, and yet the Catalans were level by half time thanks to talisman Messi with an opportunistic finish. Sticking rigidly to their 4-3-3 looked like it would be Barcelona's undoing but whatever Enrique said or did in the dressing room at half time had the desired effect. It certainly deflected any sort of blame from his shoulders because the Asturian was clearly not anywhere close to Sampaoli's league when it came to reshaping his team as needed. A typical Luis Suarez finish ended up being the game winner and in truth, despite being out-thought for long periods, Barcelona were not out-fought and could have had a couple more. Where the visitors excelled in the second 45 was in their ability to roll up their sleeves and put in a shift.
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