Barcelona vs. Sevilla: Winners and Losers from La Liga

Barcelona extended their unbeaten streak to 34 games with a hard-fought 2-1 home victory over La Liga rivals Sevilla on Sunday.

Sevilla were the last time to beat the Blaugrana, recording a 2-1 triumph at their own Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan ground back on Oct. 3, 2015.

It seemed Unai Emery's side might be capable of doing the league double over their hosts when they took the lead at Camp Nou, Vitolo volleying home Benoit Tremoulinas' cross in the 20th minute.

However, Barcelona hit back before the break. Lionel Messi equalised with a wonderful free-kick to take his tally for the season to 30 goals.

Gerard Pique turned out to be the unlikely hero for Luis Enrique's side, with the defender poking home from close range to score the winner just three minutes into the second half.

Bleacher Report has picked out the winners and losers from the Primera Division clash.

Winner: Lionel Messi

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Lionel Messi made Sevilla pay for giving away a free-kick on the edge of their own penalty area.

Per OptaJose on Twitter, Lionel Messi has now scored six direct free-kick goals this season, more than any other La Liga player.

His latest set-piece effort was a cracker, too.

Adil Rami ended up receiving a double punishment for his foul on Luis Suarez. Not only was the Sevilla centre-back booked, but he also had to watch on as Messi curled the resulting dead-ball opportunity into the net.

The Argentine forward looked most likely to go up and over the wall from the left side of the area, but he instead struck his effort into the top right corner of the goal instead.

Messi has now scored 30 or more goals in eight straight seasons for Barcelona, according to Squawka Football.

Loser: Dani Alves

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Dani Alves will miss Barcelona's next La Liga match after picking up a booking.

After playing in Barcelona's 2-0 UEFA Champions League victory away at Arsenal on Tuesday, Dani Alves was given a break from starting duties on Sunday.

The Brazilian defender was still summoned from the bench after 55 minutes, replacing another former Sevilla player in Aleix Vidal.

Dani Alves certainly made an impact—he was shown a yellow card 16 minutes after coming on for thrusting an elbow into the chest of Vicente Iborra.

The booking means the full-back will be suspended for Barcelona's league game against Rayo Vallecano on Thursday. In his absence, Vidal gets the chance to impress manager Luis Enrique.

Alves may also be concerned about his long-term future at his current club.

According to Spanish newspaper Sport (h/t Philip Costa of ESPN FC), Barcelona have expressed an interest in Arsenal's Hector Bellerin, who started his career at Camp Nou.

Winner: Vitolo

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Vitolo volleys Sevilla into a surprise lead at Camp Nou.

When Vitolo's well-taken goal put Sevilla in front, the visitors dared to dream about doing the league double over their illustrious opponents.

They worked the opening superbly, with Michael Krohn-Dehli's pass down the left wing, allowing Benoit Tremoulinas to cross for his team-mate to volley the ball beyond Claudio Bravo.

It wasn't a powerful hit, but the Spaniard knew he only had to steer it beyond the goalkeeper to break the deadlock.

According to WhoScored.com on Twitter, Vitolo's goal was just the ninth Sevilla have scored away from home in La Liga this season. Sadly, for both him and his team, it ended up being in a losing cause.

Loser: Kevin Gameiro

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Kevin Gameiro failed to take a glorious opportunity in the second half.

Sevilla striker Kevin Gameiro caused problems for Barcelona's defence.

His pace bothered the home side's high line, while he often found ways to find pockets of space in between centre-backs Gerard Pique and Jeremy Mathieu.

However, the Frenchman is tagged as a loser because he fluffed his lines in front of goal in the second half, failing to take a glorious opportunity that would have made it 2-2.

Vicente Iborra's neat flick on the edge of the box set Gameiro through on goal.

Despite having time to pick his spot with his shot from the left of the area, the forward ended up firing straight at Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who comfortably kept the attempt out.

Winner: Luis Enrique

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Luis Enrique can see his Barcelona side set yet another record with a win on Thursday.

The Barcelona bandwagon just keeps on rolling.

Their unbeaten streak in all competitions now stands at 34 games, tying the Spanish record the 1988/99 Real Madrid team previously set, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

They were far from their fluent best against Sevilla, yet Luis Enrique's side still found a way to win. 

The Barcelona boss praised the opposition after the game, per Barcelona's official website: "They’ve been perhaps the team who has fought against us the most. The best team to come to Camp Nou this season."

Still, the result stretches their lead over Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga to eight points.

With a Copa del Rey final to come (against Sevilla, too) and a 2-0 cushion heading into the home leg of their last-16 UEFA Europa League tie against Arsenal, Barcelona are right on course for a clean sweep of trophies.