Real Betis 2-3 Barcelona: 5 talking points as Blaugrana edge five-goal thriller

Barcelona completed a comeback victory at the Estadio Villamarin, with goals from Lionel Messi, Francisco Trincao, and a Victor Ruiz own goal helping them dispatch Real Betis away from home.

The Blaugrana came into this game on the back of a comeback victory against Granada in the Copa del Rey.

Ronald Koeman shocked everyone when he named Lionel Messi to the bench.

The Barcelona manager was forced into his first change when Ronald Araujo was forced off with an injury following a challenge from Alex Moreno in just the 11th minute.

Frenkie de Jong came on for the defender, with Segio Busquets dropping back into defense.

Both sides' attacking impetus meant that fireworks were expected in the game but a cagey first half of few chances saw the defenses come out on top.

With half-time approaching, Real Betis launched a lightning-quick counterattack that saw Borja Iglesias convert a cross by former Barcelona loanee Emerson.

This saw the hosts go into the break one-goal up and set them on their way to a first victory in five games against the Catalans.

If the first half was cagey, the second half was anything but, as both sides went all out for glory, with the result being that goalscoring chances were fashioned at will.

Ronald Koeman summoned Messi from the bench to take the place of Riqui Puig in the 57th minute and it took just two minutes for the Argentina international to get on the scorehseet.

The 33-year-old picked up a pass from Ousmane Dembele on the right wing, took two touches to set himself up in the box, before deceiving Joel Robles with a low near-post shot, rather than a trademark finish into the top corner.

Barcelona went ahead in the 68th minute when Victor Ruiz bundled into his own net after Antoine Griezmann had fluffed his lines from close range.

Barcelona's lead, however, lasted for just seven minutes, with the home side drawing level soon after.

Referee Carlos del Cerro booked Sergio Busquets for a tactical foul on Nabil Fekir just outside the area.

The France international dusted himself off to deliver a teasing freekick from which Ruiz rose highest to head home.

This gave the hosts extra drive and they forced Barcelona onto the backfoot, fashioning some notable chances from which Marc-Andre ter Stegen proved equal to the task.

The Blaugrana got a winner against the run of play. Lionel Messi saw his attempted pass into the box headed out by Aisser Mandi, but Trincao was on hand to rifle home a left-footed winner from the edge of the box.

This was his first goal for the club and ensured that his team headed back to Camp Nou with all three points.

The victory saw Barcelona usurp Real Madrid into second on the standings and they are now seven points behind pace-setters Atletico Madrid having played two games more.

Here are five talking points from the fixture.

#5 Victor Ruiz plays hero and villain in one game

Victor Ruiz was extremely unfortunate to have turned the ball into his own net to put Barcelona ahead.

Jordi Alba had put in a pin-point cross into the box, leaving Griezmann with just Robles to beat.

The Frenchman, however miskicked completely, allowing the ball to hit his backfoot and deflect into the net off Ruiz.

This was his second own goal of the season, having also put through his own net against Athletic Bilbao last November.

The Real Betis defender made amends soon after and scored with a towering header to draw the Andalusians level.

It was a classic case of being a hero and villain at both ends for the 32-year-old, although his efforts ultimately counted for nothing.

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#4 Barcelona keep winning run going

Barcelona have won six consecutive games in all competitions

Barcelona's victory over Real Betis means that they have now won six matches on the bounce in all competitions.

This is their longest uninterrupted sequence of victories under Ronald Koeman and the Catalans are undeniably peaking at the right time of the season.

Despite having to do it the hard way again, the Blaugrana ultimately got the job done.

And this will give them a huge boost ahead of their bockbuster clash with Sevilla in the Copa del Rey semifinal on Wednesday.

#3 Ronald Koeman's inspired changes help Barcelona to victory

Koeman's changes impacted the game for Barcelona

Ronald Koeman has faced criticism throughout his Barcelona managerial career. But the pendulum has finally begun to swing in the right way for the 57-year-old.

Having seen his side toil in vain for the first 55 minutes of the fixture, the former Everton manager prompted action on his bench, with Messi and Trincao both entering the fray.

It took just two minutes for his changes to influence the game, as his captain scored a well-taken equalizer soon after.

It was also another substitute who scored the winner; Trincao leaving Robles rooted to the spot with his shot from the edge of the area.

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#2 Exciting Real Betis push Barcelona to the limit

Real Betis were the better side for large parts

After an indifferent start to the season, Real Betis have slowly begun to get into gear and they came into this clash as one of the form teams in La Liga.

Their harrowing penalty shootout loss to Athletic Bilbao in the cup last Thursday halted a run of seven games unbeaten in all competitions - of which six had ended in a victory for Los Verdiblancos.

Despite coming up against the might of Barcelona, Manuel Pellegrini's men gave as good as they got and were the better team for large periods in the game.

They had just 36% of possession, but still fashioned better chances than their visitors and were let down by poor decision making.

The period immediately after their equalizer left Barcelona there for the taking but Real Betis failed to make the pressure count before being put to the sword soon after.

On the overall balance of play, the hosts deserved something from this fixture, however, Barcelona proved to be more ruthless in front of goal.

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#1 Lionel Messi steps off the bench to make a difference

Lionel Messi scored his 13th league goals of the season

There were several eyebrows raised when Lionel Messi was not included in the Barcelona starting line-up.

The cules generally look toothless without him and this much was evident in a dour first half where they struggled to get going.

Lionel Messi's status as a difference-maker is beyond reproach and he once again showed why he is unarguably the greatest player in Barcelona' illustrious history by having a hand in all three of their goals.

Having been introduced in the 57th minute, two minutes later, the Rosario native got on the scorehseet to draw Barcelona level with his 13th La Liga goal of the season.

Nine minutes later, his pristine through-ball to Jordi Alba sent the left-back on his way to set the second goal up.

It was also his attempted pass into the box that was poorly headed out for Trincao to score the winner.

Messi's goal at the Villamarin means that he has now scored seven goals in his last seven games in all competitions.

It comes as no surprise that this has helped Barcelona get back on track with positive results on the field.