10-man Barcelona lose 4-3 to dominant Real Betis at the Camp Nou

Barcelona end up on the losing side of a 7-goal thriller

Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde fielded a changed starting lineup, including Malcom and Lionel Messi on the wings. Samuel Umtiti did not take part, with Clément Lenglet retaining his place. But in the end, Barça were relegated to their second defeat of the league season.

The Catalans got off to a very strong start, putting the Real Betis defence under pressure. But the Andalusians fought back with tremendous guile. They took the lead in the 20th minute, with 22-year old Spanish left-back Junior Firpo registering his fourth goal in the La Liga.

Summer signing William Carvalho release Firpo with a scintillating pass. The young Spaniard sprinted across to the edge of the box and turned Sergi Roberto by cutting in with his right foot, before slotting it past a wrong-footed Marc-André ter Stegen into the near post.

Los Verdiblancos extended the lead soon after, in the 34th minute. Again, Junior Firpo was involved as his low cross found former Barça player Cristian Tello on the right flank. He had ample space and time, and put it into the path of captain Joaquín, who provided a simple finish.

Ernesto Valverde responded by taking off Arthur in favour of Arturo Vidal at half-time. The game became more end-to-end as a result of Vidal’s introduction, but Barça couldn’t find a breakthrough. Instead, Real Betis came very close to a third goal in the 64th minute.

Jordi Alba won Barcelona a penalty in the 67th minute, as he was brought down in the box by Cristian Tello while try to complete a one-two with Lionel Messi. The Argentine maestro stepped up to take the spot-kick, and rifled it into the top right corner to bring Barça back into the game.

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Barça conceded again in the 72nd minute, as Marc-André ter Stegen made a horrible blunder by letting the ball slip out of his hands off of a Giovani Lo Celso shot aimed directly at him after Tello had passed it to the Argentine midfielder after making a run down the right flank.

Barcelona pulled one back in the 79th minute. Lionel Messi was in space and released Munir free in the box. The La Masia graduate kept a cool head, and made the right decision by passing it to Arturo Vidal. The experienced Chilean box-to-box midfielder had a tap-in.

But Barça took a blow yet again. In the 81st minute, Ivan Rakitić made a lunging challenge on a Real Betis attacker. The referee showed a second yellow card, and gave him the marching orders. The match virtually ended for Barça as the Blaugranas conceded a fourth in the 83rd minute.

Yet again, Junior Firpo was released on the left wing and passed it into the path of former Real Madrid attacking midfielder Sergio Canales, who had an easy finish. Barcelona had a golden opportunity in the 89th minute, but Gerard Piqué was very poor in front of goal.

Barça bagged a consolation goal in the second minute of stoppage time, but ultimately couldn’t equalise to secure a point. This result was more of a culmination of poor individual performances by Ivan Rakitić, Arthur, Sergi Roberto and Ter Stegen, than poor overall team performance.

Also, Ernesto Valverde lost out to Quique Setién, as his gameplan to counter Barça’s passing play was on point. The wingers, especially, were absolutely immaculate. Junior Firpo was the man-of-the-match, as he managed to keep Sergi Roberto quiet for the entirety of the game.

This is a humiliating result, especially considering that Real Betis have not won at the Camp Nou in over two decades. But the side need to move on from this match, and look forward to the return of Samuel Umtiti and possibly Philippe Coutinho in the next game against Atlético Madrid.