ONLY ONE SUCCESS IN TWO-LEGGED TIES AGAINST BARCELONA IN THE LAST 48 YEARS

Sevilla FC have a herculean task before them this Wednesday at the Camp Nou. Since the beginning of Sevilla's golden age in 2006, the team have only knocked Barcelona out of a cup competition once. That was in 2009/10 with the famous 2-1 victory at the Camp Nou which was enough to secure the team's passage even with a 1-0 defeat in Nervión a week later. The Nervionenses had to fight tooth and nail to knock Barcelona out over two legs, something they had not achieved for decades.

That hard-earned victory in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals in 2010 was the first time in almost half a century that Sevilla managed to knock the Azulgranas out of a cup competition. The last time was 48 years ago in 1972/73 when a 3-1 win in Nervión was enough to cancel out a 1-0 defeat at the Ciudad Condal. The victory was all the more impressive considering that Salvador Artigas' side had just finished fourth in the Second Division, while Barcelona had come second in La Liga. Sevilla's run would unfortunately come to an end in the quarter-finals when a 0-0 draw at home was followed by a 5-2 defeat at the San Mamés against the eventual winners of the Cup, Athletic Bilbao.

The last time Sevilla had come out on top against Barcelona before 2010 was in 1973

Since then, Barcelona's record against Sevilla in knock-out competitions has been spectacular: a 7-0 win on aggregate in the quarter-finals in 1990/91, a 1-1 draw with an away goal in the Round of 16 in 2007/08, and the heart-breaking elimination in the quarter-finals two years ago when a 2-0 win at Nervión was followed by a 6-1 hammering in Barcelona. The teams also met in the UEFA Cup Round of 16 in 1995/96, with a 1-1 draw in Seville and a 3-1 defeat at the Camp Nou. To bring Barcelona's record to six wins against one defeat, there remains the two Super Cups that Sevilla lost in 2010 and 2016.

Looking at ties fought over one leg, there is one positive for Sevilla: the 3-0 win in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco in 2006. The positives stop there, however, as there are four more wins for the Azulgranas. Two Copa del Rey finals in 2016 and 2018, the Spanish Super Cup in 2018 and the UEFA Super Cup in 2015. The record therefore stands at 10 wins for Barcelona and two for Sevilla who will be looking to break this hoodoo against Ronald Koeman's side.