Flick’s Barça, now and last season, is explained for better and worse by the goals, excellent when they have the ball and attack and vulnerable when they don’t have it and defend, capable of conceding a goal at the beginning and two more in the last minutes. The score was a relief for Betis, subdued during the bulk of the match, after conceding four goals in half an hour, three from Ferran Torres and one from Roony, a 19-year-old left-hander, already a Swedish international and with a reserve team record, who fit wonderfully into Flick’s lineup.
3
Álvaro Valles, Aitor Ruibal, Marc Bartra (Diego Llorente, min. 59), Natan (Junior Firpo, min. 59), Valentín Gómez, Antony (Pablo García, min. 74), Abde Ezzalzouli, Pablo Fornals, Sergi Altimira (Nelson Deossa, min. 45), Marc Roca and Cucho Hernández
5
Joan García, Gerard Martín (Frenkie de Jong, min. 62), Jules Koundé, Pau Cubarsí, Alejandro Balde (Andreas Christensen, min. 45), Marcus Rashford, Roony Bardghji (Fermín López, min. 67), Lamine Yamal, Eric García (Jofre Torrents, min. 80), Pedri (Marc Bernal, min. 62) y Ferran Torres
Goals
1-0 min. 5: Antony. 1-1 min. 10: Ferran Torres. 1-2 min. 12: Ferrán Torres. 1-3 min. 30: Roony Bardghji. 1-4 min. 39: Ferrán Torres. 1-5 min. 58: Lamine Yamal. 2-5 min. 84: Llorente. 3-5 min. 89: Cucho Hernandez
Referee Francisco José Hernández Maeso
yellow cards
Sergi Altimira (min. 20), Gerard Martín (min. 47), Nelson Deossa (min. 58), Aitor Ruibal (min. 66), Valentín Gómez (min. 86), Pellegrini (min. 87), Koundé (min. 89)
The coach set up a very effective formation, without Raphinha or Lewandowski and with Lamine Yamal as a midfielder, the best possible wearer of the jacket with the number 10, author of the 1-5. The momentum of the victory against Atlético facilitated the comeback of a leader who was more authoritarian in the game than in the result against an opponent who came packed to the event, with six wins and two draws, waiting to reverse in La Cartuja his streak of poor results in the contests played with Barcelona at the Villamarín. Nor could he claim victory in his provisional stadium because he was overwhelmed by the collective energy of Barça and the talent of Pedri, a reference for the League leader.
The rotations and injuries played in favor of a surprise player like Roony Bardghji, a starter on the right wing after five unprecedented games, and led to Lamine Yamal acting as a third midfielder, ahead of Pedri and Eric García, established as a midfielder in the same way that Gerard Martín maintained the left-footed center position. Whoever plays, the start of the game is always the same, because the Blaugrana have already conceded a goal in four games, also in La Cartuja after Koundé was hooked at the moment of pulling the offside line and Antony finished off Abde’s cross from the left that Fornals did not reach. The Barcelona script also ensures lately – against Alavés and Atlético de Madrid – that, regardless of the lineup, the recovery is equally assured, signed against Betis by Ferran Torres.
The Foios striker added two more goals, bringing his total to 11 in the League, after excellently attacking the centers from the right side of Koundé and Roony. The Swede and Lamine exchanged positions constantly and naturally to generate situations of superiority in the Betis field. Roony’s mobility and quality was present in every play and also in the first three goals, collaborator and assistant in two and scorer in the 1-3, after controlling a pass from Pedri, excellent in his turns and passes, and shooting with his right foot to the left post of Álvaro Valles. Pedri also intervened in the 1-4 when he enabled Ferran’s shot that slipped into the green and white goal after the ball hit Bartra. Barça took the ball from 1-0 and did not let go until half-time due to the desperation of Betis, unable to detect the Lamine-Pedri-Roony association.
Barça’s possession and effectiveness – five shots and four goals – left Betis out of the game because without the ball they could not even denounce the defensive vulnerability of Flick’s team, except for Antony’s initial goal. The match continued as if there had not been a half: Barça attacked non-stop and Betis defended as best they could. The fifth goal came from a penalty after Var’s mediation due to some hands by Bartra, a former Barcelona player who had made 200 appearances for the green and white team, just as innocuous after the change of Deossa for Altimira. Lamine Yamal converted the maximum penalty and made it 1-5, the same score that occurred on October 7, 1995 when Iván de la Peña’s Quinta de Lo Pelat conquered Villamarín.
The same result did not occur because Flick’s team backed down, Betis pushed and the fans were able to sing 2-5 and 3-5 and aspire to 4-5. The Blaugrana unplugged as soon as they started thinking about Tuesday’s important match against Eintracht. Then the suffering version of Barça appeared. The best and the worst team in the same game, with goals involved, just like last year, Flick’s already well-known brand.
