From living on the edge so much, Xavi’s Barça ended up derailing. Betis, which took 75 minutes to realize that they had the game in their hand, trampled on Xavi’s supposed flower by winning 0-1 and add three points that add to the Champions zone while Barça crumbles and sends dire signals ahead of Wednesday’s decisive game in Munich.
By thinking about next Wednesday’s game in Munich, Xavi managed to worry the parish more than he was, because the rotations that he introduced to face Betis failed to start. Xavi wanted to reel Coutinho, whom he has insisted on rescuing from the well in which he lives and granted him ownership. The Brazilian tried, but he himself ruined the plays he started because Coutinho has less malice in attack than George Bailey, the endearing character played by James Steward in ‘How beautiful it is to live’.
In the initial approach of the Catalan coach, the absences were more surprising than the presences. Frenkie de Jong started on the bench and did not come out even when Gavi, in the 34th minute, had to retire due to a concussion. At halftime it was learned that he was suffering from an overload and that is why Xavi opted for Riqui as a substitute for Gavi, thinking of Munich, of course.
Dembélé’s substitution was also surprising when it seemed that the game was the ideal one to take a run for Munich. Abde played, who never could with Álex Moreno.
The willful start of Barça, hooked on Coutinho (which is all a symptom of how bad things are) was diluted again after 20 minutes of the game. Xavi’s team gives the feeling of being that clumsy hiker who leaves the refuge convinced that he knows where he wants to go, but that at the first crossroads he has already been involved.
Faced with this situation, Betis came out to endure relying on their Catalan defense (Bellerín, Bartra, Víctor and Moreno) and when they found that Barça was gaseous they took a step forward and, once again, the Blaugrana team thanked the rest after spending the last 20 minutes of the game without giving three consecutive passes.
At the Camp Nou everyone saw that Betis had the game at a stroke of the accelerator except the Verdiblancos themselves, who did not detect that Barça had been lost a long time ago.
Juanmi was the first to smell the blood and scored a goal in the 52nd minute that the VAR canceled with a thread counter, which prevented Ter Stegen from being exposed after a grotesque start.
At the time of the game, Xavi played it with De Jong and Dembélé, who as soon as they left they changed the face of Barça, which began to threaten the Verdiblancos. He did not control the game, but at least he created danger playing with the French and Abde of pure extremes. And if Abde in the first half could not with Álex Moreno, in the last minutes he created many problems for Bellerín. Barça pressed, always from Dembélé’s side, but the stopwatch also and Betis, crouched, waited for their chance to kill Barça on the counterattack. And in this scenario, it was Betis who struck after a Barça corner kick in which Canales and Tello gave Juanmi the goal in a sensational counterattack.
In the absence of ten minutes and desperate, Luuk de Jong and Piqué entered in an appeal to the epic that stayed at that: an appeal. And worrying, too.