FC Barcelona players Lionel Messi (L) and Luis Suárez. (Photo : Getty Images)
Last season's Copa del Rey runners-up Sevilla FC will host reigning La Liga and Copa del Rey champions FC Barcelona for the first leg of their 2016 Supercopa de España matchup on Sunday, August 14 at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville.
Sevilla lost to Barça, 0-2, during the 2015-2016 Copa del Rey final held at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid on May 22 when Jordi Alba and Neymar scored a goal each in extra time. Since head coach Luis Enrique's side is both the La Liga and Copa del Rey winners, Sevilla, as runners-up of the latter tournament, gets to play Barcelona.
The Sevillistas are coming off a disappointing 2-3 loss to another powerhouse Spanish squad, Real Madrid, in the 2016 UEFA Super Cup held at the Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim, Norway on Tuesday, BBC Sport reported.
Los Blancos played without superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, who are both still nursing separate injuries, while also getting less than 100 percent from French striker Karim Benzema who also was recently back from his own injury.
Head coach Jorge Sampaoli's boys were not able to take advantage of their undermanned opponents as midfielder Marco Asensio netted the opening goal at the 21st.
Los Rojiblancos scored the next two goals, courtesy of Franco Vazquez and Yevhen Konoplyanka at the 41st and 72nd minutes, to take a 2-1 lead, but the Champions League winners netted two, one in injury time and extra time, to pull off the come-from-behind victory.
Meanwhile, Barça nipped Sampdoria, 3-2, during the 2016 Joan Gamper Trophy competition held at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, as per ESPN.
Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez opened the scoring with a brilliant header off a Lionel Messi assist at the 16th minute to get things going for the hosts. Messi quickly followed it up five minutes later with his own mesmerizing one-on-one move against the goalie to make it 2-0 early in the match.
Sampdoria forward Luis Muriel cut the lead to one at the 23rd but Messi scored a penalty kick at the 34th to bring the lead back to two, 3-1, at the break.
Croatian striker Ante Budimir scored a consolation goal at the 77th to make the count more respectable.
The predicted result is a 3-1 romp for Barcelona.
Sevilla starting lineup (3-4-3 formation): Rico; Pareja, Carrico, Escudero; Mariano, N'Zonzi, Iborra, Vazquez; Kiyotake, Konoplyanka, Kiyotake, Vitolo
Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Bravo; Roberto, Pique, Mathieu, Digne; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suárez, Turan
