Barcelona pull Joao Felix out of a hat in final minute for massive Real Betis win
Real Betis 2-4 Barcelona
Barcelona knew that they needed to win to keep themselves in the title challenge in tact on their trip to the Benito Villamarin, with Real Madrid pulling out a two-goal comeback against Almería earlier in the day. It looked as if they had thrown two points away, but when they needed it most, Joao Felix was there.
Real Betis were causing danger early on in the match, but Luiz Henrique could not convert his lob, after Isco had lobbed the defence with a pass. Otherwise Los Verdiblancos struggled for clear chances. Barcelona grew more and more dangerous too though, and after Pedri had beaten the Betis offside trap and missed, a deflected pass found him in behind again. He squared for Ferran Torres to tap home his first.
Just three minutes into the second half, he would grab a second after excellent work from Lamine Yamal. The 16-year-old was a constant problem for Real Betis, on a night when Xavi Hernandez relied on two of them – defender Pau Cubarsi also made his first start for the Blaugrana. Lamine Yamal beat Abner Vinicius down the Betis left just after half-time, his cross coming off the post and falling to Torres on the penalty spot. He made no mistake with the finish.
From there Betis lifted it. They began applying pressure on the Blaugrana defence, and found some cracks. Ronald Araujo and Inaki Pena couldn’t clear a dropping ball, and Isco fired the half-volley into the roof of the net. Just 90 seconds later, a ball in behind the Barcelona defence found Isco again, and his lob of Pena was accurate.
The game became a slugfest at that point, both sides moving the ball quickly to the final third, but struggling for the final pass or defintive shot. In the final stages, Xavi Hernandez had brought
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