Real Betis 2-4 FC Barcelona: 5 Hits and Flops as Ferran Torres fires Blaugrana to victory | La Liga 2023-24

Ferran Torres bagged a hat-trick as Barcelona beat Real Betis 4-2 in La Liga on Sunday, January 21.

Real Betis made three changes from the side that beat Granada 3-0 last time out. Hector Bellerin came into the team to face his former side as Ayoze Perez and Aitor Ruibal missed out due to injury.

Barcelona, meanwhile, made six changes following their win over Unionistas in Copa del Rey. The likes of Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan returned to the lineup, while teenager Pau Cubarsi was handed his first senior start.

It was the visitors who opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Gundogan's pass was deflected into the path of Pedri who set up Torres for a simple tap-in to make it 1-0.

Barcelona continued to create chances in the first half but were unable to convert them. However, they started the second half strongly. Torres bagged his second in the 48th minute, knocking home the rebound after Lamine Yamal's effort hit the woodwork.

All of Xavi's men's good work came undone just minutes later as Isco bagged a quick-fire brace to level the scores. Goals in the 56th and 59th minute meant La Blaugrana had lost their two-goal cushion.

Both sides had chances to take the lead from then on but it was Barcelona who capitalised. Substitute Joao Felix exchanged passes with Torres before finding the back of the net with a low effort to make it 3-2 in the 90th minute.

Torres put the icing on the cake, completing his hat trick two minutes later. Yamal was the creator again, finding Torres on the counter and the attacker made no mistake to make it 4-2.

The win saw Barcelona move past Athletic Club into third place, eight points off Girona at the top. Here are five hits and flops from the game.

#5 Hit - Isco

The former Real Madrid attacker returned to haunt his ex-rivals, scoring a quick-fire brace to peg La Blaugrana back. A vicious follow-up effort after Inaki Pena's parry followed by a well-timed run saw him bag two goals on the night. Isco now has six goals and five assists in 27 appearances in all competitions for Real Betis.

#4 Flop - Inaki Pena

While Pena has filled in decently in the absence of club captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen, he had a difficult outing against Real Betis. He parried the ball back dangerously, leading to the first goal, while also mistiming coming off his line for the second.

#3 Hit - Joao Felix

The Portugal attacker had a huge impact for Barcelona, coming off the bench and bagging the winner. Coming on as an attacking substitute in place of the young Cubarsi, he looked lively in his 10 minutes of action and scored with a brilliant curling effort.

#2 Flop - Robert Lewandowski

The striker continues to have what is an underwhelming season by his lofty standards. He has scored just 12 goals across competitions this season and has failed to find the back of the net in his last four league games. Against Betis, he rarely found himself in a goalscoring position and was taken off after 62 minutes without registering a single shot.

#1 Hit - Ferran Torres

A sensational night for the Spanish winger, who almost single-handedly carried Barcelona to the win. He was involved in all four goals, scoring three and setting up the other. Alongside Yamal, he was a constant threat from the wings as Betis had no answer.