Barcelona win UEFA Super Cup with Pedro's winner in extra time

Updated: May 17, 2023, 06:15 am

Pedro shrugged off rampant speculation over his future to score the winner in extra time and help Barcelona lift the UEFA Super Cup on Tuesday with a 5-4 win over Sevilla.

Amid reports that Pedro requested to leave Barcelona with a transfer to Manchester United nearly complete, the forward came off the bench to slam home the winner on a rebound following a Lionel Messi free kick in the 115th minute.

The dramatic late winner came after Messi had already scored on two free kicks for the first time in his career, and Sevilla had rallied back from three goals down in the second half.

Ever Banega had given Sevilla a surprise lead with a free kick of his in the third minute, but Messi quickly reversed the scoreline in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Luis Suarez drew a foul at the edge of the box and Messi placed his free kick over the wall to equalise in the seventh minute.

Messi's second goal was impressive as he curled the ball in from 30 yards to beat Sevilla goalkeeper Beto into the top corner in the 15th minute.

Barcelona added a third goal just before half-time when Suarez broke away free on goal but had his shot saved by Beto. Suarez then collected the ball and crossed to Rafinha, who started in place of Neymar, to tap home.

Lionel Messi's two early free kicks were overshadowed by some late drama.
Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

Suarez found the net himself after being played through by Sergio Busquets in the 52nd minute to make it 4-1 but Sevilla were not finished.

Jose Antonio Reyes responded five minutes later by redirecting a Vitolo cross, and Kevin Gameiro closed the deficit to one with a penalty in the 72nd minute after Jeremy Mathieu hauled down Vitolo.

Sevilla kept pushing and found the equaliser nine minutes from time when Ciro Immobile slipped a low cross through Barcelona's defence for Yevhen Konoplyanka to score.

Pedro's winner came as Messi was lining up another free kick, which initially rebounded off the wall and came back to Messi, whose second shot was saved by Beto, only for Pedro to put the ball in the roof of the net.

Coke had an opportunity to equalise for Sevilla late on but his free header drifted wide, and Adil Rami saw another chance narrowly miss the net at the death.

Sevilla have won the last two editions of the Europa League but lost in the Super Cup both times to the Champions League holders. They fell 2-0 to Real Madrid in 2014.