Barcelona headed to Seville and a date with Real Betis on the back of a decent enough run of form, the Chelsea result notwithstanding.
Temporarily relocated to the Estadio La Cartuja whilst their Estadio Benito Villamarin gets a facelift, the Verdiblancos would’ve approached the game with a degree of confidence too, having not lost there and winning three of their four matches at the venue, drawing the other.
It had been 17 years since Barca had lost an away game at Betis, however, and the Catalans were also unbeaten in the last nine head-to-heads.
With Real Madrid and Villarreal breathing down Barca’s necks too, another three points were needed.
Let’s take a look at three things that affected the outcome of the match…
Time to give ‘The Shark’ the credit he deserves
Ferran Torres has been a striker that Barcelona supporters seem to love or hate.
Don’t forget that his natural position was always as a winger, so his excellence in the main striking role shouldn’t be downplayed.
Against Betis, Ferran was simply sensational. His movement to get across Marc Bartra for his first goal was elite, with the volley straight afterwards, sublime.
All strikers perform when confident, and being in and out of the side because of playing second fiddle to Robert Lewandowski has arguably seen the 25-year-old struggle in the past.
With the Polish international likely to leave in the summer, is it the right time for the club to consider that actually, they might not need to enter the transfer market to buy a new main striker?
Roony grabs his chance with both hands
Roony Bardghji has had to be very patient in Barcelona in recent weeks as he hadn’t seen a single minute of first-team action since the Champions League clash with Club Brugge.
Yet Hansi Flick threw him into the starting XI against Betis and was rewarded with an impressive performance. The youngster had a hand in two of Ferran’s goals and then opened his account with a fine strike.
Barcelona’s options in attack mean that Roony will have to work hard to see game time this season, but this performance will be a big boost and shows he can be a really useful option for Flick.
The Barca boss confirmed as much after the game: “Roony Bardghji is an option. Just like Lamine in the middle. I asked him if he would like to play as a 10 and he said yes. Roony has had a great game. Now we have another option.”
Disciplined and dynamic
It may well be that the way in which Betis themselves play lends itself to Barca’s ability to get up the pitch with ease, but that still shouldn’t take anything away from the Catalans’ excellence in attack at La Cartuja.
Much of their forward momentum was made possible by the consistent raiding of Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde down either flank.
Both were real thorns in the side of Betis in the first half, and whilst the former, again, needs to be on the same page as his fellow defenders when it comes to actioning the high line (and making ill-timed tackles), he offered much as a supplementary presence going forward, and that deserves to be recognised.
The all-round performance from Barcelona was also worth noting, particularly the decision to switch Lamine Yamal into a central role.
Everyone is used to the Blaugranes playing on the front foot and often bamboozling opposition defences with their array of attacking options.
Against Betis, we also got to see disciplined defensive play (until the last knockings) and midfield dominance, which didn’t allow the hosts to ever get a foothold after the initial loss of concentration for Antony’s goal.
There’ll be tougher tests to negotiate, of course, though this should be considered a statement performance despite Betis’ late goals.
