Liga: Barça crushes Real Betis before returning to the European Cup!

Before hosting Royal Antwerp on Tuesday evening, as part of the first day of the Champions League group stage and while awaiting the clash between Real Sociedad and Real Madrid, FC Barcelona hosted Real Betis this Saturday at 21 hours. In front of their home crowd, the Blaugrana – who had three wins and a draw in the league – presented themselves in a 4-3-3 formation and aimed for first place. With Ferran Torres, Robert Lewandowski and João Félix established on the attacking front, Xavi’s men were quick to make the difference. If Luiz Henrique lit the first fuse (15th) and gave the Catalan defense a little scare, the Culers finally took the advantage just before the half-hour mark.

Served by Romeu, Félix projected himself, bypassed Rui Silva and scored his first goal in his new colors with a straight shot from a tight angle (1-0, 25th). Perfectly launched, Barça wasted no time in taking cover. Found full axis in the opponent’s area by Christensen, Lewandowski, criticized in recent weeks, then took advantage of Félix’s superb inspiration – letting the ball pass between his legs – to finish with a low shot (2-0, 32nd). Without merit, the Beticos went on the attack again but once again lacked realism, like Willian José, stumbling upon an imperial Ter Stegen and authoring a fantastic reflex parade just before the break (45+1). Master of the game and diligent against Manuel Pellegrini’s 4-2-3-1, Barça returned with the same intentions after returning from the locker room. For its part, the Andalusian club made two changes with the entry of Francisco Vieites, replacing Rui Silva (injured), and Abde, former star of the Barcelona house.

Barça was on the attack, Félix too!

Despite a slight awakening, the Beticos were quick to slip back into their mistakes and came under Catalan pressure. Asphyxiated in their camp, in physical pain and unable to bring danger to Ter Stegen’s goal, Betis was even very close to giving in. Served after superb work from Baldé, João Félix thought he could score a double by taking a perfect left-footed shot from six meters but the referee of this match finally penalized Gavi for an offside position (58th). It was only a postponement for the reigning Spanish champions as Ferran Torres finally found the fault a few minutes later on a perfectly executed free kick (3-0, 62nd). The first direct free kick scored by the Culers since Lionel Messi in May 2021 (41 free kick attempts between the two goals)…

A meeting which even turned into an offensive festival for the Blaugranas since Raphinha, who had just come on, scored his goal after a service from Lewandowski (4-0, 66th). For the end of the match, Xavi also decided to launch the young Yamal and Gündogan, back after being hit against France last Tuesday. Solid collectively and given confidence by the physiognomy of this duel, Barça finally unfolded calmly in the last moments and added a new goal through João Cancelo (5-0, 81st), author of his first goal under the colors Catalans. With this big victory (5-0), Barça takes, in any case, temporarily the lead in La Liga and is full of confidence before returning to the European Cup. For its part, Real Betis falls to 9th place and confirms its irregularity since the start of the season.