A hat trick from Tiburón Ferran gives Barça a great victory over Betis

Xavi praised again on Saturday the mental integrity of Ferran Torres in the face of adversity, be it substitution, be it defeats, be it failures, and the Valencian gave credibility to his coach’s comment. The Valencian plays because of his determination, and also because of his state of grace in front of the goal that pushes Barça away from catastrophe.

Ferran tied Unionistas’ unacceptable 1-0 in the Cup on Wednesday, and left Seville with a hat trick of goals, again opening and closing the scoring to achieve an essential victory in the League. Ravenous and deadly the self-proclaimed Shark, who left a trail of blood in his swim through the Guadalquivir, the team needed the now substitute João Félix to perform a magic trick to give the team the lead back.

Question of courage

Barça prepared at the Villamarín knowing the plundering that Almería experienced at the Bernabéu, where a debutant referee (Hernández Maeso) awarded a penalty to Madrid after fouls against two defenders, annulled a goal against Almería and gave another to Vinicius with his hand, paving the way to make it 0-2 and those images united the group, imbuing courage to try to undertake a chimerical comeback, given the different security and solvency with which the two greats move.

Betis exhibited the same courage from Madrid, with the same 0-2 against a reborn Barça and hearing whistles from their fans at half-time. The Betic reaction differed in the forms seen in Madrid. The goals, in fact, needed to be endorsed by the VAR, but they came from their own football, with concessions from the rival (those from Barça, not those from Almería) and through a fleeting appearance of Isco, invisible until then.

Less than 15 minutes had passed after the break, and the Barça eleven ruined the excellent initial 45 and gave Xavi another example to maintain that his team plays well. In any case, he does it for a very short time, not enough to keep up with the first ones.

With two 16 year olds

With two 16 year old children (Pau Cubarsí and Lamine Yamal) Barça appeared forced by casualties. The absences could not be and were not a mitigating factor against a Betis team that was as burdened or more burdened than the Blaugranas, but Xavi, in addition to lacking enough players, has lost the reasons to give favors to anyone, in the same way that several of his men no longer They can ask their coach for anything. If Koundé hates playing as a winger, he has two problems.

Barça took risks in the end. Also from the beginning, forced to recover the ground that his predecessors have taken with aid (Madrid) and without it (Girona). He defended with three (Koundé, Araujo and Cubarsí), created with four (Balde was the four midfielder) and attacked with three. There was, however, a greater sensitivity to protect each other, with a general retreat that involved everyone except Lewandowski, who was replaced again. Vitor Roque came in his place. He had a chance and missed it.

All exquisite

Barça scored first (although Betis was able to go ahead, like everyone else, with a too-high shot from Luiz Enrique after catching Cubarsí’s back) and their players saw how comfortable it is to manage a game from the advantage. Even more so if he fits in against an opponent like Betis, refined, ergo not very aggressive.

Barça played with an unknown comfort, extending possessions, even allowing himself some excesses, with the same greed as someone who goes on a binge after weeks eating boiled vegetables. That tone of general recreation, all exquisite, irritated the green-and-white fans, who despite the good results seen live – Betis had not lost a game at the Villamarín – protested the laxity they saw in their team.

One could not blame Cubarsi, who distributed passes with the naturalness of someone who has been doing it all his life, no matter the place or the opponent, with his head raised and the bearing of a veteran, without accusing the first hesitation that could have cost him dearly. . It was the last one. He left early, like Lewandowski, but left a very different memory: 20 years younger, a debutant and a starter for the first time, his youth legs could not keep up with the pace of the elite.

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Lamine Yamal’s talents are different from the same daring and he has learned to measure himself. More dedicated in the retreat, as her coach demanded, she put together a great game that hid the Tiburon’s jaw. Ferran’s bites came after three plays from the other youth.