Barça Dominates: La Cartuja Victory

Barça closed its fantastic week in style. Hansi Flick’s team beat Betis in La Cartuja by 3-5 in a match marked by the great first half of the Blaugranas and by the impotence of the green and white, who took the lead on the scoreboard but were overtaken by a hurricane. Ferran Torres’ hat-trick and the goals from Bardghji and Lamine Yamal help the culés to continue with good feelings and put pressure on a Real Madrid that will once again play four points behind its direct rival.

And that Barça stumbled once again against the same rock. The culés had started behind on the scoreboard seven times in the League this season and they were not going to fail tradition in La Cartuja, to burst, in a crazy start. Flick opted for Bardghji on the right and Lamine Yamal in the center in a ‘messianic’ solution that seemed doomed in the face of Betis’ push that was going to hit at the first opportunity, after Antony caught a rebound in the area.

The German coach’s idea, despite the setback, was germinating. Lamine Yamal, in the center, generated a lot of attention and left spaces on the sides, where Balde, Rashford, Koundé and Bardghji would find highways. The first to take advantage of it was the French full-back, who gained the baseline and found Ferran to tie the match. Two minutes later, the water entered again through the side of Valentín Gómez, disconcerted, and this time it was Bardghji who repeated the formula and put another delivery to Ferran, who was lethal with a volley against Valles. In just over a hundred seconds, the green and white goalkeeper had collected the ball from his net twice.

It was the confirmation that Barça was well planted. The culés, with Pedri, had tools for static attack and, above all, they had the possibility of giving up a few meters and coming out like springs with passers like the canary or Lamine Yamal and the three bullets that Flick had put into the attack. Pedri was precisely the one who found Bardghji in a one-on-one match against Natan. The Swede, very inspired, feinted towards his good leg and cut back to shoot with his right hand and deal a new blow to La Cartuja, who was seeing a hurricane and who was still going to eat the sandwich of the break with a new goal against after a shot by Ferran who was poisoned after hitting Bartra.

Tip and rotation

After the restart, Betis wanted to make a clean slate and play a new 45-minute match. Pellegrini brought on Deossa and the green and white team adjusted the pressure in the opposite field and once again invited Barça to a match with spaces in which the coin could fall from either side. This scenario did not displease Flick’s men, who at all times found solutions when starting from behind thanks to the good footing of their centre-backs, the work of Eric and Pedri, and also the good back play of Ferran, an avenue that the culés knew how to exploit throughout the entire match.

Once the green and white reaction was aborted, the final touch came after a disputed penalty by Bartra. The center back went to cut out Rashford’s shot and the rebound hit him on the hand. Lamine Yamal did not waste the opportunity to score fifth and give more room to Flick, who began to think about the Champions League. With everything decided, the German brought on Bernal, Frenkie de Jong, Fermín and Torrents, and the culés’ game declined until Betis made up the score with a goal from Llorente and a penalty from Koundé on Abde that Cucho Hernández converted. Thus, Barça closed a great week in style and puts pressure on a Real Madrid that will once again play four of its biggest rival.