Soccer News Soccer Match Reports, Football News 
Barcelona took on Real Betis in the fifth matchday of La Liga EA Sports on Saturday night. Los Verdiblancos, in theory, were the Blaugranas’ most difficult competition yet.
Xavi Hernandez opted to stick with his 4-3-3 setup, albeit not without changes.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen started in goal with Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen manning the central defence. Joao Cancelo and Alejandro Balde completed the back-line.
Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, and Oriol Romeu started in midfield as the manager preferred to rest Ilkay Gundogan. Robert Lewandowski was thus joined by Joao Felix and Ferran Torres in the final third.
The game kicked off in front of a full Estadi Olimpic de Lluis Companys late in the night with the Catalans featuring the altered dynamic on the field.
Its impact was visible from the very start. The Blaugranas had a very clear demarcation of roles in the final third with Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix bringing that clarity with their profiles.
Barcelona began the game with a high press and immediately mounted pressure on the visitors. With two natural full-backs on either side, the attacks poured through from both ends.
It was Los Verdiblancos, however, who got the first big chance of the day. On the break, Isco found Willian Jose who laid it off to Luiz Henrique. Unfortunately for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, the finish was sub-par.
The Catalans mounted their dominance in the period that followed and soon had their first goal of the night. 25 minutes into the game, Oriol Romeu unlocked the Betis defence with a superb ball over the top to set up Joao Felix.
The Portuguese youngster missed the initial volley attempt but displayed tremendous composure to control the ball and slot it in from an acute angle.
Less than ten minutes later, Felix was once again involved in a beautiful piece of build-up as he allowed Christensen’s ball through his legs to set up Lewandowski. With the ball at his feet and only the goalkeeper to beat, the Polish striker made easy work…
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/barcelona-5-0-real-betis-match-review/
Author : Adithya Eshwarla
Publish date : 2023-09-16 20:56:58
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