Jordi Alba celebrates after scoring a goal.
Barcelona beat Real Betis 2-1 at the Estadio Benito Villamarin on Saturday, May 7 as they secured a berth in the UEFA Champions League for next season.
The first half saw both teams go head-to-head vying for the opening goal of the game. The Catalans hit the woodwork through Ronald Araujo, whereas Guido Rodríguez too had his attempt denied by the post in the opening half.
Ansu Fati came off the bench to break the deadlock as he scored the opening goal of the night. The 19-year-old poked the ball into the back of the net following a cross from Jordi Alba.
Minutes later, Marc Bartra equalized against his former team as he headed one in past Neto following a delicious set-piece delivery by Nabil Fekir. The sides intensified their attacks in search of a winner, but it was Barcelona who got their final say. Alba smashed one in past Rui Silva in stoppage time after receiving a tempting cross from Dani Alves to seal all three points for the visitors.
That said, let’s take a look at the player ratings for Barcelona:
Barcelona Player Ratings
Neto – 7/10
Neto did a great job filling in for Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The 32-year-old was quite reliable at the back.
Dani Alves – 7/10
Dani Alves enjoyed a great game against Real Betis. The 39-year-old was jittery offensively but did a decent job defending barring a few sluggish encounters against Juanmi. Alves set up Jordi Alba’s explicit match-winning volley.
He won seven duels, made 12 recoveries, won one tackle, made two clearances and intercepted the ball once throughout the game.
Ronald Araujo – 7/10
Ronald Araujo almost opened the scoring for Barcelona as his powerful header off a Memphis Depay cross tipped onto the bar. Rui Silva showed tremendous reflexes to deny the 23-year-old. He made some good goal-saving blocks to deny the visitors at the back.
Eric Garcia – 5.5/10
Eric Garcia looked comfortable when in possession of the ball but looked shaky with his positioning and reactions to Real Betis’ attacks.
Jordi Alba – 9/10
Jordi Alba put in a massive shift for Barcelona against Real Betis as he scored the winning goal. He even set up Ansu Fati for Barca’s opener of the night. The volley for the winner was astonishing and he deservedly won the Man of the Match award for his match-winner.
Alba won four duels, made one clearance, created four chances, made six recoveries, won one tackle and made one interception throughout the game.
Frenkie de Jong – 5.5/10
Frenkie de Jong failed to impress against Real Betis. The Dutch international was nowhere to be seen as he hardly made any noticeable contributions throughout the game.
Sergio Busquets – 7.5/10
Sergio Busquets orchestrated the play for the visitors. The 33-year-old completed the most number of passes (72), made six recoveries, won 14 duels, made three interceptions, won three tackles and made one clearance throughout the game. Although Busquets managed the flow in center, he was guilty of slowing down play on numerous occasions.
Gavi – 6/10
Gavi tried to break the lines and make piercing passes through Real Betis’ back-line, but was unable to follow through. He eagerly wanted to get on the ball but was could not pull the strings for his side.
Ousmane Dembele – 6.5/10
Ousmane Dembele tried to make something happen down the wings but could not as Real Betis defenders read his intentions quite well. The France international got away on numerous occasions thanks to his thundering pace but was unable to generate the final product.
Ferran Torres – 6/10
Ferran Torres had another frustrating game for Barcelona. The 22-year-old never looked like scoring as Barcelona flooded the box with their crosses. For all his good intentions, he could not get into good spaces.
Memphis Depay – 5.5/10
Memphis Depay had an uninspiring performance upfront as the Dutch international failed to take charge of the game. He created a good chance for Araujo but apart from that, nothing.
Substitutes
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 5.5/10
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did not have much impact on the game.
Adama Traore – 6/10
Adama Traore tried to hustle his way through using his pace and created some dangerous sequences following his introduction.
Ansu Fati – 7.5/10
Ansu Fati came on for Ferran Torres in the 75th minute of the game and scored a goal just a minute later. The 19-year-old guided the ball into the back of the net after receiving a cross from Jordi Alba down the left hand side. Fati left his mark on the game as he made a powerful impact as a substitute.
Ricard Puig – N/A
Ricard Puig came on too late to earn a rating.
