Midfielder Pedri slammed a “dreadful” first half as Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the LaLiga season on Sunday, losing 4-1 to Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.
A penalty from veteran Alexis Sánchez against his former side and a strike from Isaac Romero helped Sevilla into a two-goal lead inside 37 minutes, but Marcus Rashford pulled one back with a volley just before the break.
Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty in the second half to level, before late goals from José Ángel Carmona and Akor Adams inflicted back-to-back defeats on Barça for the first time since December 2024 after the midweek reverse against Paris Saint-Germain.
“The first half was dreadful,” Pedri told Barça One after the game. “I don’t think we’ve played as badly as we did today. We have to be honest with ourselves and be self-critical.
“There was no intensity or quality with the ball in the first half. We didn’t know how to play through their press. We didn’t know what to do with the ball.
“We have to improve a lot of things. The coach [Hansi Flick] and us, the players, will work hard to improve them after the break so that this doesn’t happen again.”
The defeat sees Barça, who were without Lamine Yamal and Raphinha in Seville, slip to second in the LaLiga table, behind Real Madrid who beat Villarreal on Saturday.
Despite suffering a second loss in all competitions in a week, Flick refused to be too downbeat, instead praising the side’s reaction in the second half.
As well as Lewandowski’s miss from the penalty spot, substitute Roony Bardghji also squandered two good chances, while Eric García had a header saved from a corner.
“The first half was not good for us,” the Barça coach said in a news conference. “They played one against one against us and they were very aggressive so we had no solution to play out.
“It was really not good. But in the second half the reaction was good. I appreciate a lot what we did, how we played and it was really good to see.”
As well as Yamal and Raphinha, Barça were also missing Marc-André ter Stegen, Joan García, Gavi and Fermín López against Sevilla.
The international break gives the Spanish champions a chance to get some players back fit, with Flick promising a reaction when they return to action in LaLiga against Girona on Oct. 18.
“The most important thing is the reaction and the emotion — also in the dressing room — that I see,” he added.
“It’s important that we keep that and that when we start again after the break we will fight. We will fight for every title. So it will be for the Champions League, for the Copa [del Rey], for the Supercopa and of course for LaLiga. This is what we want.
“I think we are a good team. Players will come back and so we go on. It’s positive and we work hard and this is what we have to do.”