Barcelona 3-4 Real Betis: Valverde’s men disappoint in narrow defeat [Tweets]

Barcelona were surprisingly outclassed by a sparkly Real Betis who notched up their first league win at Camp Nou in a 4-3 success on Sunday

Both sides traded blows in the early exchanges with Real Betis taking the game to their hosts. Their positive outlook reaped dividends as Junior Firpo opened the scoring in the 20th minute. The Beticos were soon two to the good as Joaquin finished with the easiest of tap-ins after the Barcelona defence had been sliced open by a fantastic counter-attack.

Barcelona came out firing in the second half and pulled a goal back through a Lionel Messi penalty midway through the period. But Real Betis reopened their two-goal lead almost immediately as Giovani Lo Celso scored, courtesy an uncharacteristic error by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The Blaugrana though, had hope again as Arturo Vidal cut the visitors’ lead.

But, the optimism largely faded after Ivan Rakitic was dismissed and Sergio Canales established Betis’ two-goal lead once again. Barcelona did pull a goal back for the third time through Messi, but there was very little time left to make any more impact. And fans lamented the lack of support for Messi, who was a lone warrior for the hosts.

Fans also panned Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ivan Rakitic for their poor performances, with the duo being the worst performers on the day.

Most of all, however, Ernesto Valverde was criticised for his tactics and decision making on a frustrating day for Barcelona.

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