Real Betis 1-4 Barcelona
Barcelona went ten points clear at the top of La Liga on Sunday night with a Messi-inspired victory over Real Betis at the Benito Villamarin in Seville.
Quique Setien’s Betis are chasing a European place and put the Barca defence under some pressure, but the Catalans held firm. Lionel Messi weaved his magic at the business end, scoring twice in the first half; Luis Suarez added a third in the second. Loren Moron pulled one back for the hosts before Messi completed his hat-trick.
The big La Liga 2019 news of the weekend was Atletico Madrid’s 2-0 defeat away to Athletic Bilbao, and that made the La Liga 2019 betting odds against Barca retaining the title virtually disappear. And this dominant display, against a side as competitive as Setien’s, confirms just how good Ernesto Valverde’s champions are.
Highlights of the game
Los Verdiblancos started the game brightly with Cristian Tello testing Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a well-aimed drive heading for the corner. Andres Guardado crossed into a dangerous area, but Jese’s effort from close range flew just wide.
But bright starts against a team like Barcelona mean very little unless they result in something, and the visitors were ahead in the blink of an eye. Leo Messi has been in mesmerising form, inspiring the Blaugrana to a 5-1 Champions League win over Lyon in midweek. So you don’t want to give the little genius a chance with a free-kick within shooting distance. Betis did, and Messi fired a left-footed shot into the top left corner. Easy as that!
Betis keeper Pau Lopez kept the deficit down to one with a smart save from Messi as the Argentine fired one towards the bottom corner; Los Verdiblancos then hit back with a series of attacks. Tello, Sergio Canales, Guardado and Sidnei all had efforts blocked as Barca’s defence dug in, and Jese came very close with another shot after Tello had put him in.
Barcelona weathered the storm and came out on the attack, Messi feeding Luis Suarez who shot straight at Lopez. And then, in the second minute of added time, Barca delivered a hammer blow when Suarez found Messi with a through ball, and the inevitable conclusion was the ball settling in the bottom corner of the net.
Suarez was in on the action early in the second half, firing a shot just wide. But Betis kept plugging away, Giovani Lo Celso and Canales both having shots blocked. The game swung from end to end, Suarez coming close after latching on to a Messi through ball and then Lo Celso brought another good save from Ter Stegen.
But it was game over, on 63 minutes, when Suarez took a pass from Gerard Pique and fired the ball low into the corner to make it three.
Los Verdiblancos pulled one back with just eight minutes remaining when Loren Moron took a pass from Diego Lainez and fired into the top-right corner, giving Ter Stegen no chance.
That was a well-deserved consolation, but the hosts had to take another hit when Ivan Rakitic passed to Messi, and he fired into the top corner to claim yet another hat-trick.
And the Barca skipper still had time to hit the post with his final effort of the night!
Key statistics
Here at SBOBET, we anticipated a stern test for Barcelona. But while the Real Betis forward players gave Barca’s defence a good workout, the Champions’ attack, spearheaded by Messi, was clinical enough to make it a comfortable evening. The odds of 1.47 on an away win looked about right as the visitors took an early lead and never looked back.
So Barcelona have gone 13 games unbeaten and have four consecutive away wins. And this was Barca’s 28th victory over Real Betis in the last 25 years.
What’s next?
It’s the Catalan derby next for Barcelona as city rivals Espanyol visit the Camp Nou. You have to fancy the champions to win that one against the 13th-placed side.
Looking further ahead, Ernesto Valverde’s side has a Champions League quarter-final tie against Manchester United to look forward to. The Blaugrana won’t be taking that one lightly after the Red Devils overturned a two-goal deficit to beat highly fancied PSG.
Betis have two away games to contend with in their hunt for European football: first at Rayo Vallecano, deep in relegation trouble, and then away to Real Sociedad, another team with Europa League aspirations. If they attack as they did tonight, they have every chance of picking up points in both, as they won’t be facing Lionel Messi!
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
