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Mbappé's Rollercoaster Season 🎢
Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Super Cup final football match between FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC in Tbilisi on August 11, 2015. AFP PHOTO/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)
Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Super Cup final football match between FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC in Tbilisi on August 11, 2015. AFP PHOTO/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/Getty Images

How Twitter Reacted to Barcelona's Epic UEFA Super Cup Battle with Sevilla

Ryan BaileyAug 11, 2015

Champions League winners Barcelona's quest for a sextuple of silverware continued in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday evening when they faced Europa League champs Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup. Prior to kick-off, anticipation for the competitive return of the Blaugrana on Twitter was palpable: 

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However, there were plenty of fans who were willing to pooh-pooh the big match:

Oh, how wrong they were to doubt the Super Cup. Sevilla had failed to beat Barcelona in their last 11 attempts and many expected the Catalan side to prevail. This was despite the absence of Neymar, who was sitting it out with a case of the mumps:

There was also a lot of buzz surrounding Pedro, who was expected to start the game in place of the spikey-haired Brazilian. However, the Manchester United target is said to have requested a transfer and was subsequently benched: 

Despite the odds and form favouring Barcelona, it was Sevilla who drew first blood. In the third minute, Jose Antonio Reyes was felled on the edge of the area by Javier Mascherano, resulting in a free-kick that was beautifully converted by Ever Banega:  

However, just four minutes later, we were reminded of an important fact: Anything Banega can do, Leo Messi can do better. The Argentinian lined up a dead ball at the other end in a very similar position and achieved an identical result:

In the 15th minute, Messi's ongoing quest to make the utterly sublime look mundane took another step when he put away yet another brilliant free-kick:

Even Real Madrid fans had to admit they were witnessing something special:

Meanwhile, somewhere in Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo was scowling at his television:

Shortly before the half-hour mark, Luis Suarez had the ball in the back of the net, but it was pulled back for offside. Some believed the decision was incorrect:

Shortly before the Leo Messi Show took a 15-minute interval, cast member Rafinha made up for a mixed performance on the left wing by finding the net:

During half-time, praise was poured all over the reigning champions of Europe:

Less than seven minutes into the second half, Suarez made it 4-1 when Sergio Busquets was able to intercept a poor defensive pass from Sevilla:

Shortly after Barca's fourth went in, the Rojiblancos pulled one back when a rare defensive mistake left Reyes alone in the area:

A game that looked like a foregone conclusion at half-time then became a captivating spectacle in the last 20 minutes when Sevilla converted a penalty. Jeremy Mathieu pulled down Vitolo in the area, with Kevin Gameiro confidently striking home the resulting spot-kick: 

In the 81st minute, an astounding game took yet another unlikely turn, when Yevhen Konoplyanka scored his first goal for Sevilla to make it 4-4: 

The game went into extra time, which meant the world got to spend another 30 minutes in the company of co-commentator David Pleat:

The only notable action of the first half of extra time came from Gerard Pique, who was aggrieved by a challenge from Ciro Immobile. The Barca defender proceeded to complain to one of the officials in English before using some NSFW language: 

In the 114th minute of action, Barca won yet another free-kick on the edge of the area, which Messi ploughed into the wall. The ball came back to him and he drilled a shot towards goal that was parried to the feet of substitute Pedro, who may have signed off with the Blaugrana in style:

Sevilla had a few chances to equalise at the death, but they were squandered. Therefore, the game finished 5-4, and Messi and Andres Iniesta earned some landmark silverware: 

Everyone who watched the match needed to take a bit of a breather afterwards:

It's safe to say that the 2015-16 season is going to have to work pretty hard to deliver a more astonishing game than this one.

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