Sevilla coach Pablo Machin admits they were outclassed by Barcelona on Saturday.
Sevilla went into the game top of the table.
"I think the statistics don't say everything about the result but Barcelona were more accurate in attack and defence, particularly with their saves," Machin said.
"They had a great goalkeeper stopping us and the team competed well against an opponent who showed they wanted the leadership.
"We did too of course but come up against some great goalkeeping interventions and I thought [Marc Andre] Ter Stegen was key."
A disappointing start, which saw Sevilla concede to Philippe Coutinho after two minutes, is a point of regret though for Machin and his side.
"Whenever you lose, people like to use that famous word intensity but I'm convinced that my players always want to do well," he added.
"Many times, the first shot of the game doesn't go in but this time it wasn't like that.
"It seemed that every time they had a shot they were successful and we weren't."