Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli has conceded that Barcelona deserved to emerge victorious from the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup at the Estadio Ramon on Sunday night.
Second-half goals from Luis Suarez and Munir El Haddadi secured a 2-0 success for Barcelona ahead of the second leg at the home of the Spanish champions on Wednesday.
Sampaoli, who replaced Unai Emery as Sevilla boss this summer, has said that his team "had a very good first half", but struggled to cope with Barcelona in the second.
"We had a very good first half but were bettered [by Barca] in the second. They deserve the victory. It's the only game that we haven't scored in [since I arrived]. It's not an issue of needing a striker. We must always work on scoring [goals]," Sampaoli told reporters.
"We didn't threaten our rivals enough in the second half. We didn't take our chances and gave them the option of countering us. We came [into the match] on the back of playing Madrid, we have injuries and we'll play every three days, so we'll see who's fit for the return match.
"The second leg is there for us and we'll go to Camp Nou for it, but we have to be aware that the start of the season is on Saturday."
Sevilla lost 3-2 to Real Madrid in the final of the European Super Cup on August 9.
Matt Law
