Real Betis Balompié were handed a heavy 5-2 defeat by Barcelona on Saturday at La Cartuja in La Liga's ninth round. The Verdiblancos, who sit fourth in the table with 19 points, showed fight but were ultimately overpowered by the league leaders' clinical edge.
Barcelona took an early lead through Lamine Yamal's tenth-minute strike, but Diego Valentín Gómez levelled for Betis just before the half-hour mark following a pass from Pablo Fornals. Rodri restored the visitors' advantage before the break. After halftime, Gabriel Jesus and Eric García extended Barça's lead, with Abde Ezzalzouli pulling one back for Betis from a Giovani Lo Celso assist. Dani Olmo completed the scoring in the 81st minute.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini made eight changes to his starting lineup from the midweek Champions League win over Porto. Only Álvaro Valles, Fran García and Abde kept their places, a rotation forced by European fatigue. "It was a decision made with the whole season in mind," Pellegrini explained. The defeat comes ahead of another Champions League fixture and leaves Betis eight points behind the leaders, Barcelona.
Bernal's red card
The afternoon worsened with the sending-off of defender Facundo Bernal for two bookable offences. The player apologised after the final whistle. "It won't happen again," Bernal said. His suspension adds to the absences of Junior Firpo, Iker Losada and Aitor Ruibal, who are already on the club's injury list.
Betis showed spirit and had a Giovani Lo Celso goal ruled out by VAR for a prior handball by Cucho Hernández. The result ends a positive run of three wins and a draw in their last five league matches. Their next challenge is a difficult trip to face eighth-placed Celta Vigo on 25 October. Forward Abde Ezzalzouli, who scored one of the goals, is the team's top scorer this season with three. The club noted the match was played at La Cartuja due to renovation works at their Benito Villamarín stadium.
Read the full report at Record MX
Saturday's October 17th match between Real Betis and Barcelona was broadcast live on DAZN from 6:30 p.m. local time, the platform confirmed. The fixture, corresponding to matchday 9 of LaLiga EA Sports, was televised on the DAZN LaLiga channel and also available for streaming via DAZN Spain and Movistar Plus.
The platform SKY Sports confirmed that the Saturday 17 October match between Real Betis and Barcelona was also broadcast live in Mexico. The fixture was available on the SKY Sports channel and for streaming via SKY Plus. The verdiblanco side, fourth in LaLiga with 19 points, faces its next match against Celta de Vigo.
Barcelona confirmed their return to Catalonia after beating Betis 5-2 was delayed by heavy rain. The Blaugrana club reported that their flight was not authorised to depart from Seville on Saturday night. Hansi Flick's team had to spend the night in the city and returned on Sunday at midday.
