With Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Ousmane Dembélé all sidelined through injury, new signing Antoine Griezmann took center stage in Barcelona’s 5-2 victory over Real Betis at the Camp Nou on Sunday night.
After losing their season opener last Friday against Athletic Bilbao, Barça’s nightmarish start continued when Nabil Fekir opened the scoring for Betis in the 15th minute.
The visitor’s lead lasted for 26 minutes, but Barcelona equalized in fine style. A spectacular pass from Sergi Roberto picked out the run of Griezmann, and the Frenchman put a controlled volley beyond Spanish youth international Dani Martín to open his Barça account.
After being deployed on the left wing against Bilbao, Griezmann took up a central position today while being flanked by 21-year-old La Masia product Carles Pérez on the left and Rafinha on the right. The 28-year-old World Cup-winner was the best player on the pitch.
That excellence was exemplified by his second goal, which came five minutes after the second half restart. Griezmann celebrated his beautiful curler by throwing some confetti into the Camp Nou sky.
The Blaugrana ran riot from there, scoring three more goals in 17 minutes to go up 5-1 by the 77th. Pérez scored his first senior goal in the 56th, Jordi Alba poked home in the 60th and Arturo Vidal made it five in the 77th after being setup by Griezmann.
Griezmann would make one mistake — a misplaced pass which led to a golazo from Loren in the 79th minute.
Ansu Fati entered the match for Barcelona towards the end, becoming the second-youngest player to ever represent the club in league play.
2 - Anssumane Fati has become the second youngest player to play for @FCBarcelona in LaLiga history (16 years and 298 days), after Vicenç Martínez against Real Madrid in October 1941 (16y 280d). Audacity pic.twitter.com/K83MxWjXsi
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) August 25, 2019
Barcelona returns to action next Saturday against Osasuna. Lionel Messi is expected to make his first appearance of the season in that one.
FC Barcelona vs Real Betis Full Highlights (08/25/2019)
The18 Recommends For You
