FC Barcelona 3-4 Real Betis: 5 takeaways from the game

#4 Barcelona's substitutions came a little too late

Valverde missed a trick by not starting Vidal

In an attempt to salvage something from the game, Ernesto Valverde introduced Arturo Vidal from the start of the second half. Vidal's impact on the game was clearly visible. His link-up with Lionel Messi helped Barcelona's case to make a comeback.

Vidal showed his brutal physicality to take the ball away from Betis on several occasions. He countered the swift and technical moves through his physicality alone. He managed to score a goal and created opportunities unselfishly for Messi towards the end.

It seemed as though Barcelona missed a trick by starting without Vidal in the first half. Munir's introduction too made a lot of sense. Even though questionable, Munir was involved in a lot more passing moves than Malcom. He showed immense maturity in laying the ball off to Vidal to score when he could have scored on his own.

Carles Alena was introduced late in the game but even he was good on the pitch in the short of time. Perhaps his creativity was required much earlier, as Rakitic looked out of sorts for the majority of the game.

Ernesto Valverde's decision making was good but his realization came too little too late.