Barcelona became the first team to win this season at the Benito Villamarín. A Catalan team that had to wait until the end of the match to achieve its dominance. “It is an important step forward, in a stadium where no one had won. With young players and personality. We had the game under great control and we made some things easier. It worries me, especially in our area. We react with faith and courage to overcome. “It was a great game for the team,” said Xavi. “The opponent is playing, it has been difficult for us with our mistakes, but we have played a great game. One of the best games of the season. “I am very happy today, we have taken a step forward,” added the coach.
2
Rui Silva, Sokratis, Héctor Bellerín, Pezzella, Abner, Luiz Henrique, Isco Alarcón, Assane Diao, Marc Roca, Johnny (Sergi Altimira, min. 72) and Willian José (Borja Iglesias, min. 45)
4
Iñaki Peña, Pau Cubarsi, Koundé, Ronald Araújo, Alex Balde, Gündogan, Frenkie De Jong, Pedri (Fermin Lopez, 71 minutes), Lewandowski (Vitor Roque, 63 minutes), Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres
Goals 0-1 min. 20: Ferrán Torres. 0-2 min. 48: Ferrán Torres. 1-2 min. 56: Isco Alarcón. 2-2 min. 59: Isco Alarcón. 2-3 min. 89: João Félix. 2-4 min. 91: Ferrán Torres.
Referee Jesus Gil Manzano
Yellow cards Frenkie De Jong (min. 57), Abner (min. 72) and Vitor Roque (min. 96)
“I don’t know if the changes reinforce me, but I do it for the good of the team. We needed to attack with a nine like Vitor Roque, who attacks spaces very well. That’s why the change, not to point fingers at anyone, but to win the game. “Robert is very important to us,” said Xavi. “I stay with the words of Garitano and especially Alfredo Relaño. They punish me if I speak, but everyone has seen what happened with Madrid. I already said that this League would be very difficult to win. I remember Getafe, the resounding penalty against Raphinha in Vallecas, another against Joâo Félix… That’s how it is. We could have six more points,” clarified the Barcelona coach regarding what happened in Madrid-Almería. “Isco is happy, making the difference. He has spectacular talent and a level that has made us suffer. His season is excellent. “I have been talking to him and I am very happy with how he is playing,” said Xavi. “I see Pau prepared, that’s why he played at 16 years old. He has measured well, with a lot of hierarchy. He has a lot of merit playing with two 16-year-old boys. I don’t know if it’s something historical. This has a lot of merit,” Xavi clarified to end his press conference at the Villamarín.
“The result does not reflect what the game was. We had a very clear chance at the beginning and they fortunately took the lead. We lacked a little intensity in the first half. They were better, but in the second we improved. We went two to two and because we wanted to win it we lost it in the 90th minute. They have a lot of precision,” Manuel Pellegrini clarified. “Jhonny is adapting to us. It was his turn to debut and I think he did quite well. “Precision is what defines the matches, but it is the ambition to win the match. There is a difference between the shots and the finishing of the two teams, it is evident. If we play like today we are going to win more than lose, so we will see what happens with the market,” concluded the Betis coach.
It was the culmination of a match that began with a ranchera and that ended with Barcelona’s joy. “Ay Ay Ay, Andrés Guardado”, sang the Betis fans to bid farewell to Betis’ oldest player in the squad after Joaquín left last year. 897 games in the Spanish League and 218 include this footballer who returns to Mexico, to León, and who has played in five World Cups with his national team. Before the match, the Betis and Barcelona players gave the Green and White captain a shout-out, who jumped onto the pitch dressed in shorts. It was the festive prologue to a match with a great atmosphere at the Benito Villamarín, a stadium that Barcelona plays in a great way, as it has not lost in the League at the Andalusian venue since 2008. Lamine Yamal had not even turned one year old in 2008 that elevated the Spanish team in the European Championship in Austria and Switzerland, brilliantly led by Xavi. Then Pep Guardiola arrived at Barcelona and what happened happened.
Yamal was one of the best of a Barcelona team where Pedri shone, brilliant against the debutant Johnny in the face of the barrage of losses from the green and white. Along with Pedri, a good De Jong fueled the Catalan team’s options. Ferran made it 0-2 and it had to be Isco, of course, who pulled Betis out of the abyss. A 2-2 that was broken in the final stretch by Barcelona. Isco had not scored a double in the League since 2017. At Betis, he is decidedly being happy. He scored his first two goals against Barcelona of his entire career. Ferran achieved the first hat trick of his career with Barcelona. In addition, he gave the pass to Joâo Félix in his goal. Betis took the knee for the first time in their stadium this season after 11 games without losing.
“Very happy to win here. It has been a very difficult match. I think it was, with Villarreal, my best performance with the first team. It suits me very well from the point of confidence and on the eve of a very important match against Athletic. The three points were important because if we didn’t win the League would be very far away. I hope it is a turning point,” clarified Lamine Yamal, one of Barcelona’s best players in Seville.