Real Betis 0-5 Barcelona: Player Ratings
Given both sides’ propensity to attack, many expected Barcelona and Real Betis to play out a La Liga classic on Sunday night. After a slow start, the Blaugrana turned up the heat as braces from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez helped them to a 5-0 win, with all the goals coming in the last half hour.
Suspended Betis boss Quique Setien will not be happy with his teams’ capitulation after Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring.
Here are the player ratings from a rather one-sided evening at the Estadio Benito Villamarin:
Real Betis
Antonio Adan – 6/10
The former Real Madrid goalkeeper was barely tested in the first half, but was powerless to stop a blitz from Barcelona after the break.
Javi Garcia – 5/10
Perhaps most at fault for Barcelona being able to pull away with this game, given how much space was afforded to Rakitic for the opening goal. Garcia had patrolled the right-hand side of the defence well, but as the game went on he was caught out of position and tried to play offside while out of sync with his teammates.
Aissa Mandi – 5/10
Another defender who saw his performance desert him as the match progressed. He did well to keep the likes of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi quiet to begin with, especially because Barcelona tried to press the back three, but he completely lost his way during the last half an hour.
Zouhair Feddal – 5/10
Stayed solid overall, especially in the first half when Betis were able to calm the game down after a frantic opening few minutes. But his game turned on the hour mark when he was too slow to push out in what had been a very organised back line for Messi’s first goal, allowing the Argentine a free run.
He was then booked for a silly coming together with Suarez and again gave the ball away for Messi to make it 4-0.
Francis – 6/10
Betis threatened early on and were in the game for about an hour because of their play out wide. Francis was not afraid to give Jordi Alba a taste of his own medicine, but perhaps that contributed to his side’s downfall in the end, although he began to play in a more disciplined manner as Barcelona began to take control of the game.
Fabian Ruiz – 5/10
At the start of the match, it looked as though Barcelona were missing the absent Andres Iniesta and part of that was because of the discipline from Fabian. The visitors lacked any sort of spark in the first half, but as soon as they stepped up, Betis appeared to surrender all over the pitch.
Andres Guardado – 6/10
It looked as though the Mexican had set the tone for the attack-minded hosts with a good effort from distance in the third minute, but he was shackled after that. Messi began to pick up pockets of space behind and in front of him, and Rakitic began to make penetrative runs in the second half, one of which led to the opening goal.
Riza Durmisi – 7/10
It is easy to see why Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been linked with a move for the Danish wing-back. While Betis weren’t at their scintillating best going forward, Durmisi looked to support whenever he could, causing Sergi Roberto and Nelson Semedo all kinds of problems when he did.
Both sides looked to go after their opponents in wide areas, and like Francis, Durmisi looked to take risks.
Joaquin – 6/10
The 36-year-old has shown no sign of slowing down despite his age, and he again looked sprightly here. He was allowed to roam across the pitch in behind the two forward players, and looked as though he could cause some problems in the early stages.
As soon as Betis looked to contain the league leaders, though, his game suffered, just like his attacking counterparts
Cristian Tello – 5/10
Once nicknamed ‘the bullet’ by former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, having started his career at the Camp Nou, Tello was frustratingly quiet. He has pace to burn, but he rarely got the space to use it, though he and Sergio Leon did try to pen the Barça backline in when they got the chance.
Sergio Leon – 6/10
Again, like Joaquin and Tello, Sergio Leon was very much isolated overall and really struggled to make use of his pace. He did break free and linked up with Francis when he got the chance but was unable to test Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Substitutes:
Ruben Castro – 5/10
The experienced striker came off the bench with 17 minutes remaining looking to add to his eight goals in 14 games against Barcelona, but the game was done by then.
Ryad Boudebouz – 4/10
A lot was expected of the Algerian playmaker when he arrived from Montpellier in the summer, but he has failed to make an impact so far, as was the case in this game.
Victor Camarasa – N/A
Only came on with two minutes remaining, and couldn't affect the game.