Barça is still subscribed to the epic and Betis to misfortune. In a new heart attack game, the Barça players achieved their sixth consecutive victory in LaLiga, beating Betis 2-3 after coming back from a match that seemed seen for a sentence until the final arreón arrived that was conceived against all odds and that It changed as soon as Messi came into play and that was solved thanks to a definitive goal from Trincāo, the unexpected hero of the day. Barça will not be another thing, but fun, this team is for a while.
Koeman raised the party as a freelancer faces end-of-month expenses: this is what there is, this is what I have and this is what comes to me. And faced with this situation, he chose to come out with more changes than anyone would have imagined. An author lineup without Messi, De Jong and Pedri.
Surely, the Blaugrana coach suggested on the one hand that key players had to be reserved for a competition like the Cup and on the other hand he thought that if things went wrong, as they did, there would be time to solve the set in the last leg of the game. He hit the second option, where a little Messi is a lot.
Leaving aside that the staging of both teams made it clear that the two contenders had lead in their legs, problems accumulated for Barça from the start. Araújo, who seemed one of those designated to rest, was injured in the 8th minute leaving the Blaugrana defense shivering more than usual. The plan of a Barcelona in which Riqui was unable to command, Pjanic played at the pace of a veteran and in which Braithwaite fought more with the ball than with his scoreboard did not bode well.
Betis were not for much party, but at least they detected that pressing a little could do a lot of damage to Barça. The Verdiblancos from the beginning tried for Mingueza's gang, but they found oil for Alba's when Emerson led a counter started by Fekir that culminated Borja Iglesias before the passivity of the centrals and a Busquets more aware of the assistant than the forward.
If Koeman had planned the breaks in anticipation of going for the match in the second act, now was the time to prove it. Pedri came out for Braithwaite, more a crash car than a player. Messi, for the moment, only warmed up while the great novelty of the game was that Barça committed, De Jong by means of, his first foul of the game in the second half, which gives an idea of the intensity of the Barça fans in the first half.
The score of the game changed as soon as Messi entered the field. His appearance is not that he changed the duel, it is that it seemed that he began to play something else. The Argentine went out to revolutions unattainable for the rest of the mortals. In two minutes he touched four balls and the fourth, he lodged it in the net scoring the tie. He sowed panic in Betis in an absolutely intimidating way that culminated in a delicious pass to Alba that helped Barça to score the second after Griezmann's blunder and Víctor Ruiz scored at his own goal.
The green-and-white center-back had the opportunity to retaliate six minutes later by exploiting the gap that Barça has in the set piece. With the tie at two after a crazy game, only the unexpected could happen. And in that, Trincāo appeared to score a goal that confirms that this Barça has subscribed to the epic even in its worst days.
Changes
Frenkie De Jong (10 ', Ronald Araújo), Pedri (45 ', Braithwaite), Messi (56 ', Ricard Puig), Trincão (56 ', Pjanić), Rodrigo Sanchez (64 ', Aitor Ruibal), Tello (74 ', Juanmi), Guido Rodriguez (74 ', Paul Akouokou), Umtiti (77 ', Busquets), Loren Moron (81 ', Borja Iglesias), Channels (82 ', Nabil Fekir)
Goals
1-0, 37 ': Borja Iglesias, 1-1, 58 ': Messi, 1-2, 67 ': Victor Ruiz, 2-2, 74 ': Victor Ruiz, 2-3, 86 ': Trincão
Cards
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande
VAR Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea
Frenkie De Jong (46 ', Yellow) Ousmane Dembélé (63 ', Yellow) Busquets (73 ', Yellow) Victor Ruiz (76 ', Yellow