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Barcelona's season was in a bit of an early mess when they welcomed Real Betis to the Camp Nou on Sunday. The Catalans had succumbed to a shock 0-1 defeat in the opening weekend against Athletic Bilbao, causing a rocky start to Ernesto Valverde's new season.
The Spaniard was under immense pressure after a relatively underwhelming 2018/19 season, where Barcelona won only the league and failed in Europe once again. Valverde, as such, was desperate to get back to winning ways against Real Betis but was missing quite a few important components in his team.
Both Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele were ruled out of the game with injuries. Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi was still not a 100% fit, which left Valverde with a decision to make during team selection.
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The back 5 remained unchanged from the last game - Marc-Andre ter Stegen in goal, with Nelson Semedo, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet and Jordi Alba making up the back four. In the midfield, Sergio Busquets was selected alongside Sergi Roberto and Frenkie de Jong. Valverde was crippled with lack of first-team members in attack, so he opted for Rafinha and Carles Perez either side of Antoine Griezmann in a new-look front three.
The home team were shocked in the 15th minute when Nabil Fekir scored to give Real Betis the lead. However, Barcelona drew level through Griezmann in the 41st minute and went to the break with the score at 1-1.
In the second half, the Frenchman scored again in the 50th minute. Carles Perez added a third in the 56th minute, while Jordi Alba made it 4-1 in the 60th minute. Arturo Vidal came off the bench to score his first of the season before the away side got one back through Lorenzo Garcia. As a result, Barcelona successfully went on to grab their first league win of the season.
Ernesto Valverde will be pleased with the performance of these 5 men, who were brilliant against Real Betis.
#5 Arturo Vidal
The Chilean was brought on to replace Sergio Busquets in the second half, who had picked up an injury in the latter stages of the game. With Barcelona cruising at home, Valverde could afford to rest his midfield general. He opted for Arturo Vidal, hoping to generate enough steel in the midfield to see the game through. The Chilean, though, had other ideas.
Immediately after coming on, Vidal showed a desire to join the attack, running forward whenever he had the chance. His eagerness finally bore fruit in the 77th minute, when Barcelona broke free and the ball fell to Griezmann in the box. The Frenchman slid in to send the ball on to the path of the onrushing Vidal, who finished first time into the top right corner to score Barcelona's 5th of the night.
#4 Carles Perez
Carles Perez had a slow start to the game, stationed on the right side of the front three. The Spaniard struggled to have an impact in the final third in the first half, even though his movement and off the ball running was impressive. He even had a good opportunity to score right at the stroke of half time but squandered the chance. The Spaniard was at the end of another good Barcelona move, at the start of the second half, but he came up short once again.
However, Perez increased in confidence as the game wore on. He combined well with Griezmann and seemed to build an understanding with the Frenchman. And soon enough, he had his big moment of the game.
Nelson Semedo arrived in the box and fed Perez with a good ball, right at the edge of the area. The Spaniard took the ball in his stride, created a little space for himself and sent the ball into the bottom left corner. It was the goal that effectively broke the spirit of the opposition.
#3 Jordi Alba
The left-back had drawn a lot of stick last game, for his under-par performance against Athletic Bilbao. Jordi Alba failed to impact that game and Barcelona missed his penetrative runs on their left side. The Spaniard, as such, was looking for redemption against Real Betis at the Camp Nou.
Alba combined well with Rafinha on the left flank and regularly sent in good balls into the box. The Spaniard was Barcelona’s biggest threat in the opening stages. He created at least 3 great chances in the first half, feeding Rafinha and Sergi Roberto, however, both players failed to score. He was hardly perturbed though; instead, Alba continued to strive harder and was relentless in the final third.
As such, when Sergio Busquets sent him through on goal in the 60th minute, the Spaniard did not look for options anymore. He had one look at the goal and sent a low shot into the far corner to get Barcelona 4-1 up. It was a goal that both the home team and their marauding left-back deserved.
#2 Sergio Busquets
Valverde had kept his midfield general on the bench last weekend against Athletic Bilbao. However, Sergio Busquets was reinstated in the first eleven, for his first start of the season against Real Betis at home.
Sadly, the Spaniard had an inauspicious start to the game, when his square ball in the centre of the park inadvertently gave Real Betis a chance to strike early in the game. The away side took the lead, much against the run of the play. Like a true professional, though, Busquets did not let that impact his game.
Instead, the Spaniard concentrated on moving the ball around the park faster. He allowed Sergi Roberto to regularly drive forward to join the attack, and brought the wings into the game, spreading the ball with inch-perfect passes.
His vision and reading of the game near the opposition box ensured that Real Betis were always on their toes. However, there was nothing they could do to stop him from threading a beautiful through ball to Jordi Alba in the 60th minute, which led to Barcelona’s 4th goal of the game.
#1 Antoine Griezmann
Last weekend, Antoine Griezmann failed to impress as Barcelona were defeated in the first game of the season. Quite understandably, the Frenchman had a lot to prove to the fans in his home debut at the Camp Nou.
The French forward started the game through the centre and was a handful for the Betis defence, who struggled to deal with his movements and cunning runs. In the 41st minute of the game, Griezmann had given the home fans something to cheer about.
The Frenchman was admirably spotted by Sergi Roberto, whose looping ball was a little ahead of Griezmann. But the new Barcelona No. 7 stretched to reach the ball and displayed finishing expertise to bring Barcelona back into the game.
After the break, Griezmann was at it again, this time cutting inside from the right and unleashing a brilliant volley into the far corner. The finish was so good that one could be forgiven for mistaking the Frenchman for a certain Argentine maestro. Griezmann had singlehandedly given Barcelona the lead, but he was not done yet.
The Frenchman continued to be heavily involved in Barcelona’s every move and a sweeping assist for Vidal in the 77th minute summed up a great night for Antoine Griezmann.
