Spanish La Liga
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Barcelona 5-2 Real Betis: Antoine Griezmann hits two to seal first La Liga win

Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann joined Barcelona from Atletico Madrid in July

Antoine Griezmann marked his home league debut for Barcelona with his first competitive goals for the club as Real Betis were well beaten in La Liga.

Griezmann, signed in July for £107m, swept in to equalise Nabil Fekir's opener, then bent in a lovely second five minutes after half-time.

Carles Perez, with his first senior goal, added a third for Barca, beaten at Athletic Bilbao a week ago.

Jordi Alba and Arturo Vidal made it 5-1 before Loren's stunning consolation.

Griezmann, signed at great expense from Atletico Madrid, was under pressure to perform after a poor display on his competitive debut against Bilbao, especially with fellow forwards Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele all absent through injury.

Barcelona have been heavily linked with a move for their former striker Neymar - who has not played for Paris St-Germain this season because of the uncertainty over his future.

Griezmann struggled to get into the match early on, and when Fekir steered in his first Betis goal from Loren's pass in the 15th minute, there were concerns that Barca might be on course to start their title defence with two successive defeats.

Ansu Fati
Ansu Fati, at 16 years 298 days, is the second-youngest first-team player in Barcelona history - with the record held by Vicente Martinez, who was 16 years 280 days when he played against Real Madrid in October 1941

Those worries, though, started to disappear once Griezmann stretched to touch in Sergi Roberto's chip four minutes before half-time.

The France striker appear to score a little untidily with his shin, but the goal got his confidence going, and he struck again by curling a fine shot into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area after being set up by Roberto.

Perez, making only his third senior Barca appearance, had scuffed wide an earlier chance on his weaker right foot, but proved ruthless on his left from 18 yards following Nelson Semedo's cut-back from the right.

Alba swept in a fourth - Barca's third in 10 second-half minutes - having charged forward from left-back to take on Sergio Busquets' through pass, and substitute Vidal stretched to lift a shot into the roof of the net for the fifth, with fine build-up play from Perez and Griezmann.

Loren blasted a shot into the top corner almost immediately for a second Betis goal, but Barcelona could have had more.

Ansu Fati, the second-youngest first-team player in Barcelona's history at 16 years 298 days, impressed after coming on as a second-half substitute, steering one shot just wide and setting up Griezmann for a hat-trick chance, which the striker saw pushed out by goalkeeper Dani Martin.

Line-ups

Barcelona

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1ter Stegen
  • 2Nélson Semedo
  • 3PiquéBooked at 32mins
  • 15Lenglet
  • 18Alba
  • 20Roberto
  • 5BusquetsSubstituted forVidalat 74'minutes
  • 21F de Jong
  • 27PérezSubstituted forAnsu Fatiat 78'minutes
  • 17Griezmann
  • 12RafinhaSubstituted forFirpoat 81'minutes

Substitutes

  • 4Rakitic
  • 8Arthur
  • 22Vidal
  • 23Umtiti
  • 24Firpo
  • 26Peña
  • 31Ansu Fati

Real Betis

Formation 4-4-2

  • 13Martín Fernández
  • 22Emerson Royal
  • 5Bartra
  • 12da Silva Júnior
  • 6Pedraza
  • 10CanalesSubstituted forLainezat 75'minutes
  • 18GuardadoSubstituted forSánchez Rodríguezat 61'minutes
  • 14William CarvalhoBooked at 90mins
  • 11TelloSubstituted forKaptoumat 61'minutes
  • 16Morón
  • 8Fekir

Substitutes

  • 3García Fernández
  • 7Juanmi
  • 17Sánchez Rodríguez
  • 20Lainez
  • 21Kaptoum
  • 23Mandi
  • 30Rebollo
Referee:
José Luis González González
Attendance:
79,160

Match Stats

Home TeamBarcelonaAway TeamReal Betis
Possession
Home70%
Away30%
Shots
Home20
Away4
Shots on Target
Home7
Away3
Corners
Home11
Away0
Fouls
Home14
Away12

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Barcelona 5, Real Betis 2.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Barcelona 5, Real Betis 2.

  3. Post update

    Offside, Barcelona. Arturo Vidal tries a through ball, but Jordi Alba is caught offside.

  4. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Júnior Firpo.

  5. Post update

    Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Dani Martín.

  6. Post update

    Attempt saved. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Anssumane Fati with a cross.

  7. Booking

    William Carvalho (Real Betis) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  8. Post update

    Sergi Roberto (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  9. Post update

    Foul by William Carvalho (Real Betis).

  10. Post update

    Foul by Júnior Firpo (Barcelona).

  11. Post update

    Diego Lainez (Real Betis) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  12. Post update

    Attempt missed. Anssumane Fati (Barcelona) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Clément Lenglet.

  13. Post update

    Arturo Vidal (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  14. Post update

    Foul by Nabil Fekir (Real Betis).

  15. Post update

    Offside, Barcelona. Anssumane Fati tries a through ball, but Antoine Griezmann is caught offside.

  16. Post update

    Offside, Real Betis. Marc Bartra tries a through ball, but Loren Morón is caught offside.

  17. Post update

    Foul by Júnior Firpo (Barcelona).

  18. Post update

    Emerson (Real Betis) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  19. Substitution

    Substitution, Barcelona. Júnior Firpo replaces Rafinha.

  20. Post update

    Rafinha (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Sunday 25th August 2019

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Sevilla22003036
2Atl Madrid22002026
3Real Madrid21104224
4Real Valladolid21103214
5Ath Bilbao21102114
6Real Sociedad21102114
7Alavés21101014
8Osasuna21101014
9Barcelona21015323
10Levante21012203
11Mallorca21012203
12Celta Vigo210123-13
13Villarreal201156-11
14Granada201145-11
15Eibar201112-11
16Getafe201112-11
17Valencia201112-11
18Espanyol201102-21
19Leganés200202-20
20Real Betis200237-40
View full Spanish La Liga table