Why Kevin Gameiro vs. Gerard Pique Will Be Key Barcelona vs. Sevilla Battle

Coke took the plaudits, but it was Kevin Gameiro's second-half goal that put Sevilla in a position to win the UEFA Europa League final against Liverpool on Wednesday night.

Flying out of the blocks in the second half, with Liverpool 1-0 up, he scored in the first minute to stun the Reds, before Coke's double sealed Sevilla's 3-1 victory in Switzerland.

Now Gameiro is going out to do the same against Barcelona in Sunday night’s Copa del Rey final. He has 29 goals this season, more than he has netted in any other campaign.

The 29-year-old French striker has played at Strasbourg, Lorient, Paris Saint-Germain and now Sevilla, and he has never been as lethal as he is at this minute.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Manager Unai Emery has got the best out of the striker, who will be Sevilla's best hope of punishing Barcelona on the break.

And in the Blaugurana corner, trying to stop him will be Gerard Pique.

Barcelona's centre-back has enjoyed a supreme season, following on from last season's return to form under Luis Enrique.

He had lost his way a bit, but under the Asturian's rule, Pique has returned to being one of the best defenders in the world—perhaps even the best.

Gameiro—who is extremely fast—will be doing his best to zip away from Pique, whose positioning will have to be perfect if he is to foil the speedster.

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

Barcelona's sporting director, Robert Fernandez, is well aware of the striker's abilities. He said on TV3, h/t Sport: "I've followed him for years. When I was at Atletico we went to see him and we didn't sign him. It was a bad decision."

Pique did help shackle Gameiro at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan when the teams met in October, holding him scoreless. But Sevilla still managed a 2-1 victory, with Emery ending his long run without beating the Catalans in that match.

However, Gameiro did score in the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona, converting from the penalty spot but seeing his side lose 5-4 in what proved to be one of the best games of the season. If the Copa del Rey final is half as good, we’ll be in for a treat.

Barcelona beat Sevilla 2-1 in La Liga in February, too, a game in which Gameiro had good moments but could not grab a goal.

Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press

However, he has directly contributed to goals in 10 of his last 11 games, racking up 10 goals and three assists in that time.

The only game he could not influence was a heavy 4-0 defeat by Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, in which he missed a penalty. That blot on his copy book aside, he has been sensational in recent weeks.

Then again, so has Barcelona's defence, led by Pique. After they burned up their own points advantage in La Liga and were eliminated from the Champions League by Atletico, the Catalans knew they had to improve. And they did.

They won their last five league games to win the title, scoring 24 goals and conceding zero. That's five consecutive clean sheets against Deportivo de La Coruna, Sporting Gijon, Real Betis, Espanyol and Granada.

But in that run they have not had to face a player as talented and dangerous as Gameiro.

Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press

Lucas Perez, Ruben Castro and Youssef El-Arabi have all had fine seasons and bagged plenty of goals but not as many as Sevilla's French forward.

There will be other key battles, too, with Sevilla's defence needing to work at maximum capacity to have a chance of keeping Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez at bay.

Yet if they are to win the game, they will need Gameiro to get the edge on Pique and convert at least one chance.

Last time Barcelona played at the Vicente Calderon, they were ripped apart by a French striker and had their cup dreams ended. That was Antoine Griezmann with Atletico in the UEFA Champions League. Now it's Gameiro's turn.