Pale Barcelona suffer a shocking meltdown in scorching Sevilla sun!

Miracles are possible, but you must believe in them and give your all when it matters.

That's what Matias Almeyda and his Sevilla boys did on Sunday afternoon as they defeated Barcelona 3-1 for one of the biggest upsets of La Liga season so far.

Unimpressed with Hansi Flick's side's quality, the hosts created a two-goal cushion early on. Without injured Lamine Yamal, the defending champions made an effort to bounce back, but they were brutally punished for several missed opportunities, including Robert Lewandowski's penalty miss.

We saw a one-sided first half - only the team that dominated was not the one we expected. Sevilla were impeccable, imposing their football philosophy straight from the start. Led by their experienced captain Cezar Azpilicueta, and another veteran, former Barcelona forward, Alexis Sanchez, the hosts made it clear they were not interested in being bystanders like in all those previous encounters.

Ronald Araujo took down Isaac Romero in the box a bit naively, which resulted in a penalty, which Alexis converted into a 1-0 lead for the Sevillans.

Instead of bouncing back, the visitors kept their low profile even after the opener, conceding another one shortly. It was a simple yet powerful three-piece action by Sevilla's attack, with Romero slotting it easily to double the lead, 2-0.

At that point, it was obvious Flick's men were about to endure a dreadful afternoon at Ramon Sanchez Pisjuan, but a bit of Pedri's brilliance and Rashford's clever finishing after the former's cross brought back some hope in the seventh minute of the first-half added time.

We knew that La Liga giants would return from the locker room eager to make a complete comeback, but Almeyda had his own plans, too.

Still, it could have been quite a nightmare Sunday for the former Argentina international when his substitute Adnan Januzaj made a catastrophic mistake 40 seconds after coming on. The ex-Manchester United player made a blatant foul on Alejandro Balde, which resulted in another penalty, only this time for Sevilla's rivals.

Of all the people, Robert Lewandowski missed it, which was just the start of Barca's calvary. The favourites didn't score from two more chances that were more than exquisite, and then conceded the third from a counterattack, as Carmona hit it low into the far corner.

It was only the beginning of Barca's painful end with eight minutes of stoppage time remaining. Nigerian forward Akor Adams nailed it in the dying seconds for a jaw-dropping 4-1 victory. Barcelona are now two points behind league leaders Real Madrid, and Flick will have a lot of worries ahead of the international break.

LA LIGA - MATCHDAY 8

Friday

Osasuna - Getafe 2-1 (1-1)

/Bretones 45+3, Catena 90 - Mayoral 23/

Saturday

Oviedo - Levante 0-2 (0-1)

/Alvarez 30, Eyong 72/

Girona - Valencia 2-1 (1-0)

/Vanat 18, Martinez 63 - Lopez 57/

Athletic Bilbao - Mallorca 2-1 (1-0)

/Williams 9 pen, Rego 82 - Costa 77/

Real Madrid - Villarreal 3-1 (0-0)

/Vinicius 47, 69 pen, Mbappe 81 - Mikautadze 73/

Sunday

Alaves - Elche 3-1 (0-0)

/Vicente 76 pen, Martinez 81, Boye 90+5 - Silva 90+3/

Sevilla - Barcelona 4-1 (2-1)

/Sanchez 13 pen, Isaac 36, Carmona 90, Adams 90+6 - Rashford 45+7/

19.30: (2.70) Espanyol (3.10) Betis (2.75)

19.30: (2.05) Sociedad (3.35) Rayo Vallecano (3.80)

22.00: (4.70) Celta (3.60) Atletico Madrid (1.78)

***odds are subject to change***