FC Barcelona brought down Betis Sevilla (2-2, 2-4 tab) Thursday night at the King-Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh during the second semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup.
TOPS
Dembele and Fekir shine
Here is a beautiful night for the French. Ousmane Dembélé played a key role in his team’s attacking game. Very often found on the left side, he used his speed and his dribbling skills to undermine Aitor Ruibal: small bridge, large bridge, hooks, feints of strikes… The French international is also involved in Lewandowski’s opener with an assist after knocking out the Betis full-back. Same observation on the other side of the field with Nabil Fekir. The former Lyonnais scored a great goal (77th) to equalize and save his team from potential elimination. In general, Fekir was at the heart of the Andalusian offensive animation with 91% successful passes and 70 balls hit until his exit.
Savior Marc-André Ter Stegen
The Barcelona goalkeeper made a total of five saves in the game, including three in the first period (32nd, 44th, 45th). He ensured his defense by catching the errors of raises of some of his teammates. During the penalty shootout, the German goalkeeper repelled the attempts of Juanmi and William Carvalho, definitively sealing the qualification of the Blaugrana. Ter Stegen was quite simply the most consistent player in the game, never falling asleep on the Barcelona domination phases. He responded when Betis found colors.
FLOPS
The irregularity of Betis
The start of the meeting was one-sided. Barça dominated their opponent by installing a high pressing which prevented the Andalusians from restarting and building. Manuel Pellegrini’s players nevertheless knew how to react but never maintained their form, worse still the good attacking passages were rarely rewarded, scoring their two goals on weak time. Betis really struggled to alternate phases of domination, making very little profit from their few awakenings. The Sevillians can harbor regrets, as FC Barcelona stopped playing for a large part of the second act.
The losses of the ball of the Barcelona defense
The Catalans struggled to be reassuring behind – apart from Ter Stegen’s very good game. If Betis struggled to create real opportunities, the Barcelona defense often made mistakes, like its two bad passes from Sergi Roberto (21st) then Jules Koundé (22nd). More than once, the German goalkeeper saved the deal, catching up with disagreements and other lost balls. A lack of communication was also noted on certain sequences. The defense and the axial block of Barça offered too many gifts to the offensive sector of Betis, to the point of having completely launched the first phase Sevillian domination in the first period, at a time when the Andalusians were drinking the cup. Too much passing waste which gave easy opportunities to Luiz Henrique and Nabil Fekir.
