Barcelona could not pick a win over Real Betis for the second time this season despite having the home advantage.
Hansi Flick rotated his side slightly on the night but largely conserved the core, given how important the game was. Real Madrid losing earlier in the day made it more important for the team to have a chance to go six points clear.
Barcelona, however, could only manage a draw as Gavi’s opener was cancelled out by a strike from Natan and the team then played out a second half with no goals.
With the UEFA Champions League returning midweek, Flick would have expected a better result to keep the steam and momentum on his side.
Yet, the result could have been worse for Barcelona and the Catalans will take the one point they earned with little regret.
Barça Universal brings you three talking points from Barcelona 1-1 Real Betis.
An understandable result
Given the schedule Barcelona have had to deal with, it was inevitable that fatigue would catch up with them at some point.
Understandably, it looked like exhaustion had caught up with the team, and many players across the park looked off-colour.
While Barcelona’s performance was not bad in any capacity, no player took it upon himself to come up clutch and the lazy display saw the team put many chances to waste.
Lamine Yamal had a rare off night and struggled to create much of use. Raphinha and Ferran Torres also looked like shadows of themselves.
While the defence was largely good, they, too, made a trivial error in man-marking, which gave Los Verdiblancos their equaliser early in the game.
Considering that the team has virtually played a game every 72 hours, the draw is not as bad a result as it would be otherwise. What is key, however, is that the team come back rejuvenated for the next game after the rare-off night.
Gavi returns to his best
While Barcelona looked to struggle across the field, one player who stepped up and looked better than he had before was Gavi.
The La Masia star started the game in what came as a massive relief to fans after his injury scare earlier in the week.
Through the 90 minutes, he looked to be the best touch he has been since recovering from his ACL injury, which comes as a promising development for Flick.
Gavi opened the scoring for Barcelona in just the seventh minute with a precise finish and gave the team the lead. It was, notably, the only goal they scored on the night.
Further, the Golden Boy winner stepped up with 92% passing accuracy and two key passes and completed 100% of his long ...
