An exciting and enthralling game of football between Real Betis and Barcelona came to and end with both teams sharing the points in a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Benito Villamarin. Barcelona started off the game on a good note, however, it was the home team that troubled Barcelona throughout the last 25 minutes of the first half and the first 25 minutes of the second half.
Los Verdiblancos were always great on the counter and Barcelona who started the game with Jeremy Mathieu, who has been shaky in the defence for the Catalans were caught napping on many occasions. Gerrard Pique himself put in a mediocre performance and Ivan Rakitic in the midfield had a very poor game. Ruben Castro and Antonio Adan on the hand were fantastic for Real Betis throughout the night.
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Here are five talking points from a fantastic game of football from Seville.
#1 Antonio Adan comes back to haunt Barcelona
Remember Antonio Adan? Yes, the former Real Madrid goalkeeper who came through the ranks at the Castilla. Adan was picked over Iker Casillas under Jose Mourinho before Diego Alves came in. Three years later, the ex-Real Madrid shot-stopper has done his former club a massive favour by putting in a fantastic performance to keep Barcelona at bay.
While Barcelona had much fewer shots on target than usual, the chances that they did have were more of less clear cut. Neymar’s fantastic opportunity in the first half to put Barcelona ahead was brilliantly stopped by Adan and since that save, he was on a roll. Another notable save during the game was that of Luis Suarez which was once again almost a one on one chance.
On a day when Betis had many players who stepped up to put in a fantastic performance, Antonio Adan perhaps just manages to stand one level above the rest.
#2 Denis Suarez and Aleix Vidal seems to be working for Barcelona
Barcelona splashed all their money in the summer to secure the services of Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes, Samuel Umtiti and Denis Suarez. Of the four outfield players, only Samuel Umtiti seemed to fit into the Barcelona team like they would have expected. Lucas Digne and Andre Gomes are still finding their way, withnDenis Suarez finally looking to have fitted into this team in the last two weeks.
Aleix Vidal on the other hand finally seems like the player Barcelona were looking for when they signed him from Sevilla. Despite missing on a fantastic opportunity ten minutes into the second half, the right back reminded many of the players he was meant to replace – Daniel Alves. With quick runs down the right flank and neat passes, he could be the answer to Barcelona’s Right-back woes.
Together, the former Sevilla players are making a name for themselves at Barcelona.
#3 Real Betis too good on the counter? Or were Barcelona too open?
The answer to this question is completely subjective, but it was clearly a combination of the two. Barcelona’s defence was way too open and without Sergio Busquets to provide cover, Ivan Rakitic simply struggled in his role in the pivot. Gerrard Pique, meanwhile, was a bit shaky and Jeremy Mathieu was just not good enough to stop Betis.
Take no credit away from the men donning the green and whites, though. Real Betis were brilliant every time they entered the Barcelona half and in fact were pretty unlucky to hit the post on two occasions. Ceballos and Ruben Castro managed to rattle the post within a five-minute period when Real Betis were all over Barcelona.
Betis who are now placed in the bottom half of the table will take great confidence from this performance.
#4 Marc-Andre Ter Stegen keeps Barcelona in the game
While Antonio Adan was the hero for Real Betis in the first half, Ter Stegen himself made a few heroic saves in the second half for Barcelona. When Betis had Barcelona locked in a stranglehold around the 70th minute, a combination of Ter Stegen and the crossbar kept Barcelona in the game. Had it not been for the German, Betis could’ve had a couple more goals tonight.
His best save of the night came in the 81st minute when Ruben Castro found himself one on one with the German international after Barcelona had sent all their players up in search of a goal. Ter Stegen showed great composure and held his ground to make a splendid save.
As always, his distribution was fantastic for Barcelona throughout the game.
#5 Refereeing decisions come into the spotlight yet again in La Liga
La Liga has been in the news for a lot of controversy in the past few seasons, but more so this season after a lot of pundits have questioned their decision over not having the goal-line system. With Barcelona at the receiving end of a lot of decisions from the referees, there has also been a feeling around Camp Nou that they are being robbed by La Liga’s president Javier Tebas who is a Real Madrid fan.
While those claims could just be purely emotional, Barcelona has in fact been very unlucky with many decisions this season. Against Betis, their first claim was that of a penalty for a foul on Neymar. Replays clearly showed that the player was hacked down right in front of goal. The second was that of an own goal which was cleared off the line. Replays, however, showed that the ball did cross the line. Barcelona did have a few other claims but not as clear cut as the two mentioned above.
With many players speaking up on the issues, and Neymar, in fact, mocking it on his Instagram story, expect a few fines and bans coming Barcelona’s way.
