It has been a tricky summer to say the least for Barcelona. They have lost one of their prized assets in Neymar and struggled to replace him with pursuits for Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele hitting dead ends. It was not made any easier when they were embarrassed at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night in the Spanish Super Cup. Ernesto Valverde’s men looked to put that result behind them and make a bright start to the new La Liga campaign against Real Betis.
Prior to kick-off, a minute’s silence was held to pay tribute to the victims of the recent Barcelona attacks. The Catalan club also wore the city’s name on the back of their shirts to pay their respects.
Barcelona asserted their dominance early on and had two chances in the opening minutes. Sergi Roberto broke down the left and crossed for Deulofeu, but the winger couldn’t sort his feet out and sent the shot wide. Minutes later, Messi tricked and turned on the edge of the box before striking just over the bar.
The Argentine superstar had another shot that flew agonisingly wide on 25 minutes. He was found on the edge of the box and had a pocket of space to unleash a strike with his left foot that just missed the outside of the post.
10 minutes later, Messi hit the woodwork after the hosts were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Betis box. From 25 yards out he aimed for the top right corner but post came to Antonio Adan’s rescue and the visitors cleared.
With the Camp Nou fired up, Barcelona were soon ahead. Messi drove at the Betis back line and played a delicate ball through to Deulofeu. The winger fizzed the ball back across goal and a combination of Messi and Alin Tosca brought the faintest of touches to divert it into the net.
Betis had a golden opportunity to immediately equalise through Sergio Leon. The striker was released in behind the Barcelona defence and found himself one-on-one with Ter Stegen. He delayed and delayed his strike allowing Mascherano to sprint back and produce a fantastic last ditch tackle to save his side.
The visitors were made to rue the mistake when Sergi Roberto doubled Barcelona’s lead on 38 minutes. Deulofeu was involved again as he squared for the attacking midfielder, who made no mistake as he calmly tucked the ball into the net from 12 yards out.
Barcelona picked up where they left off after the break and immediately threatened to score. Betis were caught in possession in midfield and Busquets found Messi on the edge of the box, the striker unleashed a fierce strike but hit Adan's post for the second time in the game.
Betis had a chance to pull one back when a sloppy pass from Sergi Roberto allowed Matias Nahuel to run at Umtiti. He let fly from outside the box but the strike flew high and wide.
The hosts could have made it three with 15 minutes to play. Messi played a delightful through ball for Vidal and he tried to take is past the onrushing Adan. The Betis goalkeeper, however, had other ideas and just about got a foot to the ball.
By this point it seemed inevitable that Messi would get on the scoresheet and score Barcelona's third. The little magician was involved in all of his team’s attacks and hit the post for the third time on 78 minutes with another long range strike.
Betis had a chance to score a consolation goal with 3 minutes to play when the ball rolled out to Fabian Ruiz Pena on the edge of the box but he couldn’t get over his strike and it flew well over the bar.
Valverde’s side closed out the match to get off to a winning start to the new La Liga campaign. It has to be said, however, that Real Betis did not put up much of a fight and will be looking for better performances in the games to come.