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Sevilla 2 Barcelona 0: Resting Messi backfires for Copa del Rey holders

Lionel Messi was given the day off as Copa del Rey holders Barcelona went down 2-0 away to Sevilla in the first leg of their quarter-final.

Pablo Sarabia and Wissam Ben Yedder scored in the second half to earn Sevilla a deserved 2-0 victory over Barcelona, who rested Lionel Messi, in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final.

Messi came off the bench to help Barca beat Leganes in LaLiga at the weekend, but Ernesto Valverde left his captain out entirely at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan on Wednesday, handing a debut to shock signing Kevin-Prince Boateng in attack instead.