Barcelona beat 10 man Real Betis by 2 goals at the Benito Villamarin, to go back on top of La Liga. Westermann’s sending off in the 35 minute for a second yellow card changed the game, allowing Rakitic to profit in the 50th minute with Suarez wrapping up the game in the 81st minute.
Lineups:
Real Betis XI: Adan; Bruno, Pezzella, Westermann, Montoya; Petros, Joaquin, N'Diaye; Cejudo, Ruben Castro, Ceballos
Barcelona XI : Bravo; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta; Messi, Neymar, Suarez.
First Half
With Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid winning their respective games earlier in the day, the pressure was on Barcelona to respond and the Catalans did not rise to the occasion from the start. Real Betis nearly caught out Barcelona with an early counter attack, with Ruben Castro spurning a 3 v 3 situation, with Pique clearing for a corner.
Bruno’s header from the corner was tipped over by Bravo, to cement an action packed start to the game. Barcelona began to dominate possession, but were unable to have a real effort on goal until the 19th minute through Iniesta, amidst a series of yellow cards as the referee laid down the law.
It was Westermann who fell afoul of the law in the 28th minute, taking down Messi after being nutmegged, but the German’s humiliation was complete in the 35th minute when he earned his marching orders. A late, rash foul on Rakitic meant that Westermann foolishly reduced his side to 10 men after barely looking like conceding.
The yellows in the game continued to flow, with Dani Alves undeservingly going into the book on the stroke of half time after he barely made contact with Ceballos, who went down clutching his face. A rathe ugly end to an ugly half that ended goalless.
Second Half
Barcelona started the second half on a strong note, with Suarez nearly scoring in the 47th minute. Neymar sent in a peach of a through ball to Suarez on the left, but the Uruguayan’s first time shot went narrowly past the near post.
Attempting to repay Suarez’s generosity, Betis opted to concede the opener in the most calamitous of fashions. A chip from Messi aimed at Rakitic in the box had Adan chargin at his defender’s overhead kick, but they both missed, allowing Rakitic to collect and slot home into an empty net in the 50th minute.
Barcelona attempted to score the second goal, but it seemed as though Luis Suarez had forgotten his shooting boots, spurning a chance to score in the 65th minute, after Neymar set him up. The Uruguayan’s second miss in the 74th minute was absolutely criminal, after Messi set him up with an easy tap in, but Suarez shot straight at Adan.
Suarez was not as profligate in the 81st minute, when a stunning through ball from Messi found him clear of the offside trap, and the Uruguayan’s first time shot evaded Adan’s charge forward and nestled in the bottom corner to give Barcelona an unassailable 2-0 lead.
With the game won, Luis Enrique rang in the changes, although it was Bravo coming off in the 88th minute that was concerning, as the Barcelona keeper clutched his calf to be repalced by Ter Stegen. However, as the final whistle blew, Barcelona were hapy overall, having overcome a potential banana skin to go back on top of La Liga with 85 points.
