Messi decides with a double exit from the bench

Barcelona returned to victory by beating Betis 5-2. The Argentine confirms that he is the most decisive player in the Spanish league.

And finally Messi has rested. Even if only 45 minutes, they are enough to see that his presence against Betis was necessary to unravel a match that was tied at half-time and that Barcelona solved, thanks to the Argentine star, scoring after the restart 5-2 .

Dembélé opened the scoring for the Culé team with a cross shot (22), Toni Sanabria drew (45 + 2), Antoine Griezmann put it 2-1 to empty net to pass from Leo Messi (48), who signed 3-1 by criminal (61).

Loren Morón scored 3-2 (72), but Messi was in charge of achieving the 4-2 for the team by beating the Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Gravo (80) and Pedri scored 5-2 (89) to close the win against Betis, who finished with ten due to the dismissal of Aissa Mandi (59).

The azulgrana team reunited with victory this Saturday 7-N after four games without winning in the Spanish league.

Messi started the match on the bench, but in the second half he went out to revolutionize the clash and give the Catalans three gold points.

This is how the game was played

The duel started in a crazy way, with the two teams looking very high and threatening Bravo and Ter Stegen at the slightest opportunity. There were up to seven clear scoring chances in the first twenty minutes: Griezmann shot twice slightly off the mark, and Ansu Fati also missed a door on the first try and crashed into Bravo on the second.

For Betis, William Carvalho heads on the corner and forces Ter Stegen to fly to his right team to save the goal; Álex Moreno, perennial threat to the defense of Barça with his lifts on the left wing, has cut the ball too much on the exit of the German goal of Barça; and Tello was also encouraged with a light shot from the front.

The scoreboard moved for the first time in the 22nd minute, when Dembélé, with a personal move, threatened with his right hand in the right corner of the visitors’ area to hit Bravo with his left foot and bring him 1-0 .

Barça manages to repeat the second thanks to Griezmann, who for the umpteenth time sends Pedri’s heel away. After half an hour, Mandi shot down Ansu Fati in the area.

Bravo stopped a penalty against Griezmann

And Griezmann, with Messi on the bench, wanted to resolve his complicated relationship with the goal from eleven meters. But Bravo, who knows French well (coincided with five seasons at Real Sociedad), sensed his intention.

In the other area, Tello returned to end up deflected, but in the last play before the break, the former Azulgrana received a ball after a counterattack led by Canales and his center would have ended up sending Sanabria into the goal to equalize the clash.

Koeman admitted Messi for Fati at half-timeand the Flea came out ready to solve the game. In the first local attack, he let the classic assist from Jordi Alba from the left pass to drag two defenders and Bravo at the start and free mark Griezmann, who eventually scored, to his liking, for the 2-1.

At the moment Mandi pulls out a shot from Dembélé on the goal line. Cuadra Fernández whistled a penalty and sent off the Betis defender, and this time Messi has not forgiven.

Pellegrini had to rebuild the defense and sacrificed Tello to insert David Ruiz. The Andalusians were reluctant to consider the match doomed and, with one man less, they managed to make it 2-3 quickly.

As soon as he entered the field, Loren took advantage of an assist from Álex Moreno, after a new break on the left wing.

Howitzer with the left hand

It was just over a quarter of an hour away, but Messi decided to take all excitement out of the fall, joining Sergi Roberto to enter the area and send a howitzer with his left foot that sneaked into the whole team.

At “10” they would cancel another out of the game. And Betis had no gas left to hold the stake, even though Loren, who was fresh, still had time to produce a couple of times before the end.

At 89, Pedri finished an assist from Sergi Roberto by scoring his first goal as a Barça player in LaLiga. Barça, despite worrying defensive gaps, ended a series of four consecutive games without winning in the competition.

And Messi proved once again that he is still the most decisive player in Planet Soccer. It doesn’t matter if he starts from the bench or if he plays walking.

– Data sheet:

(5) – Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets (Pjanic, min. 85), De Jong; Dembélé (Trincao, min. 66), Pedri, Ansu Fati (Messi, min. 46); and Griezmann (Braithwaite, min. 78).

(2) – Betis: Claudio Bravo; Emerson, Mandi, Bartra, Álex Moreno; William Carvalho, Guido Rodríguez; Joaquín (Ruibal, min. 62), Canales (Rodri Sánchez, min. 86), Tello (Víctor Ruiz, min. 62); Sanabria (Loren, min.71).

Targets: 1-0: Dembélé, min. 22. 1-1: Sanabria (min. 45 + 3). 2-1: Griezmann, min. 48. 3-1: Messi (p.), Min. 61. 3-2: Loren, minimum 73. 4-2: Messi, min. 82. 5-2: Pedri, min. 89.

Referee: Cuadra Fernández (Committee of the Balearics). Ammonito Mandi (min.32), Ansu Fati (min.36), Pedri (min.41) and Álex Moreno (min.45) and sent off with a red directed at Mandi (min.60).

Accidents: Match of the ninth day of LaLiga Santander played at the Camp Nou behind closed doors. A minute of silence was observed before the game in memory of Tonny Bruins Slot, a former member of the Barcelona technical team at the time of the Dream Team, who recently passed away at the age of 73.