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Messi, Bravo help Barcelona win first trophy of season, ho-hum

Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets celebrate a goal against Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday at the Nou Camp. (Reuters)
Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets celebrate a goal against Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday at the Nou Camp. (Reuters)

It took Barcelona until Aug. 17, the fourth day of its season, to win its first trophy.

Intolerably, Barca merely won the domestic double last season, lifting La Liga and the Copa del Rey but missing out on another Champions League win following a year in which they had completed another treble. So they got the trophy-hoggin’ started early this year with an authoritative 5-0 aggregate win in the Supercopa de Espana over Sevilla.

Following Sunday’s 2-0 win in Sevilla, Barca sauntered by last year’s Copa del Rey runners-up in a 3-0 victory on Wednesday, thanks to a pair of goals by Arda Turan and another by Lionel Messi.

But, however briefly, it looked at first like Sevilla might actually make a contest of it. Wissam Ben Yedder provoked a strong save from Barca goalie Claudio Bravo – who will reportedly join Manchester City soon – in just the third minute.

Ganso then had a shot blocked deep inside Barca’s box, whereupon Bravo pushed Ben Yedder’s header off the bar.

Quite against the grain, Barca went ahead in the 10th minute. New Portuguese midfield acquisition Andre Gomes found Messi up the middle, who slid Arda Turan through. The Turk, who had a difficult first season in Catalonia, finished well.

Messi nearly doubled the score when Aleix Vidal laid back Turan’s long cross for him, but the Argentine slammed the tricky shot just wide.

Barca newbie Samuel Umtiti, the promising French central defender, then conceded a penalty when his arm caught a shot while in an unnatural position. But Bravo bailed him out with a save on Vicente Iborra’s effort.

And Sevilla again neglected to get on the scoreboard on the brink of halftime with several whiffs in front of goal and a diving header that arced strangely onto the top of the crossbar, somehow.

Just after halftime, Barca put the game away – insofar as the tie wasn’t already decided. Goalkeeper Sergio Rico turned the ball over in his own third and Turan eventually popped it into the net with a deftly placed effort.

Then in the 55th minute, Lucas Digne, another new recruit, whipped in a cross from the left. And Little Leo Messi actually won a header and placed the ball perfectly in the opposite corner.

The lone stain on the game for Barca came in the 80th minute, when Javier Mascherano had to leave the contest injured. And since manager Luis Enrique had already used all three of his subs, his side finished up the night with a man down.

No matter, Bravo dealt with what few shots Sevilla still got off, leading you to wonder if his club should be so quick to let him go to Pep Guardiola’s club in England. Regardless, Barca celebrated a title in just its second official game of the season.

It’s only the Supercopa, and a 15th such trophy for Barca at that. Its 5-1 aggregate loss to Athletic Bilbao in that competition a year ago demonstrated that it may not portend much for the upcoming season, since Barca went on to have a strong year.

But all the same, it’s a pleasing way to begin the season. Especially when much more is expected of you.