Trincão scores Barça's winning goal against Betis this Sunday at Benito Villamarín.MARCELO DEL POZO / Reuters
It will be difficult for Barça to play LaLiga while the Cup and the Champions League play.
The games take place without rest, injuries multiply and it is necessary to manage efforts and resources in a championship that Atlético dominates with an iron hand.
There is no choice but to prioritize tournaments and dose figures like Messi.
And, luckily, the Catalans were reached with half an hour from their captain to come back against Betis.
The entry from Rosario dismounted the Verdiblancos and encouraged the Barça fans so much that even Trincão woke up.
The Portuguese signed the triumph with his first goal as a Barcelona player.
There were more goals than I play in a gusty match chaired by Fekir's signature football and substitute Messi.
BET
2
-
3
BCN
BetisJoel, Víctor Ruiz, Emerson, Mandi, Álex Moreno, Aitor Ruibal (Rodrigo Sánchez, min. 64), Nabil Fekir (Canales, min. 82), Paul Akouokou (Guido Rodríguez, min. 74), Guardado, Juanmi (Tello, min. 74) and Borja Iglesias (Loren Morón, min. 81) Barcelona Ter Stegen, Clement Lenglet, Ronald Araújo (Frenkie De Jong, min. 10), Alba, Óscar Mingueza, Busquets (Umtiti, min. 77), Pjanić (Trincão , min. 56), Ricard Puig (Messi, min. 56), Griezmann, Braithwaite (Pedri, min. 45) and Ousmane Dembélé
Goals1-0 min.
37: Borja Iglesias.
1-1 min.
58: Messi.
1-2 min.
67: Victor Ruiz (pp).
2-2 min.
74: Victor Ruiz.
2-3 min.
86: Trincão.
Referee Carlos del Cerro Grande Yellow cards Frenkie De Jong (min. 46), Ousmane Dembélé (min. 63), Busquets (min. 73) and Víctor Ruiz (min. 76)
The focus was on the benches because if the lineups are opinionable, the rotations provoke heated debates, especially when the coaches intervene in a radical way, as happened with Pellegrini and Koeman.
The Verdiblanco reserved Canales, one of the LaLiga figures, and the azulgrana dispensed with Messi, Pedri and De Jong, the triangle on which Barça football has been built, and kept Araujo.
It is not easy to get the changes right, even when resources are scarce, because the Uruguayan was injured after 10 minutes and the coach preferred De Jong as a substitute over Umtiti.
Barcelona was not doing well, especially vulnerable on the right flank, poorly defended by Mingueza and Dembélé, and Álex Moreno did not stop putting centers in Ter Stegen's area.
Unstable defensively, the Barça team lacked depth and imbalance in attack despite Griezmann's interest in ruling the Villamarín contest.
The Catalans did not renounce control of the game and their rhythm seemed even higher than that of Betis.
The best arrivals, however, had the Verdiblanca signature until Lenglet missed a frank shot off a corner kick taken short by Pjanic.
At Fekir's feet
The inaccuracies of the azulgrana, reiterative in the losses, contrasted with the clairvoyance of Fekir.
The Frenchman shot the transitions of Betis with his passes.
The 1-0 began with an opening by Fekir on the right side for the arrival of Emerson and the center of the side was finished off by Borja Iglesias.
Despite their perseverance, Pjanic and Riqui Puig could not tie the game of their team, shaved in both areas, unable to finish between the three sticks of Joel's goal.
Koeman had no choice but to appeal to Pedri.
The change encouraged Barça and even Mingueza put Joel to the test.
Barcelona camped on the green-and-white court in search of the lift with the risk of taking a second goal through the long field that he gave up behind him with the complicity of Betis.
The solution of the match was in the exquisite feet of Fekir, Juanmi's assistant in a play neutralized by Ter Stegen, until Messi appeared.
The 10 barely needed to touch the ball to tie with a left-handed shot at the entrance of the area after receiving from Dembélé.
The Rosario feels very comfortable at the Villamarín.
Betis has such a panic that they win in any play, known or surprising, as happened in 1-2.
An own goal: Messi opened for Jordi Alba, as is customary in victory and defeat, and the center back hit Griezmann's two legs before touching Víctor Ruiz and beating Joel.
Messi, however, is also not enough to defend and help a defense that collapses in the strategy plays, as was found at 2-2.
Víctor Ruiz corrected from 1-2 when he headed a free kick dumped by Fekir and conceded awkwardly by Busquets.
The game then turned in favor of Betis with the entry on stage of Canales and Loren.
Even Pedri was forced to shrink balls in the area of the splendid Ter Stegen.
Messi, however, did not back down to keep his faith in a victory that came as a surprise on a left-footed shot from Trincão.
Barcelona needed the most indisputable starters, Messi, Pedri and De Jong, to reverse a contest that eluded him with the substitutes and add his sixth consecutive victory in a field that, on the other hand, is always favorable to him like Villamarín .
No one was happier than Koeman.
