Andreas Christensen of Barcelona celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side’s opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Betis at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Monfort)
Andreas Christensen, Robert Lewandowski, strikes from Rafinha and an own goal from Guido Rodríguez gave the champions-elect a comfortable 4–0 victory over Betis.
Even the weather complemented Barcelona’s win over Betis as it rained incessantly, bringing some respite to one of the driest regions of drought-stricken Spain. The club posted a message on Twitter saying, “We love rainy nights.”
Betis’ Edgar Gonzalez had a night to forget at the Camp Nou. He replaced the injured Luiz Felipe in the 12th minute, but was on his way back to the bench by the 33rd minute after being sent off with two yellow cards for fouls.
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So it went for Betis, who saw his chances of a Champions League berth fade. Manuel Pellegrini’s side finished sixth, nine points behind Sociedad, in fourth and last place for Europe’s elite competition.
Barcelona were already in the lead thanks to a 14th-minute header by Andreas Christensen, before Edgar left Betis underman. Robert Lewandowski then took his league-leading tally to 19 goals, two more than Benzema.
Rafinha, who crossed the ball for Christensen’s opener, scored the third goal in the 39th.
Ousmane Dembele was late for his first appearance since the Barcelona winger injured his left thigh in late January.
Betis legend Joaquin Sanchez received a standing ovation from a large section of Barcelona’s 88,000-strong crowd when he went on as a second-half substitute. The 41-year-old forward recently announced that he would retire after the 23rd season of his career.
Betis finished with nine men and all their substitutions were made after Joaquin went off with a right knee problem in the 80th.
Betis’s Guido Rodríguez then converted a pass from Anu Fati into his own net.
Fifteen-year-old Lamine Yamal made his debut for Barcelona in the last minute.
Barcelona said the forward is the youngest player in the club’s history to play a Spanish league game. In 1902, a 13-year-old played for Barcelona in a cup competition.
Yamal would not have scored if it had been saved by goalkeeper Rui Silva.
“I told him to try things. And boy did he do that, and at 15, imagine that,” coach Xavi Hernandez said. “He almost scored, almost assisted a teammate. He could become a special player.”
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Elche beat Rayo Vallecano 4–0 to record their biggest win of an otherwise painful season. The last-placed team was still 16 points away from safety with six games left.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)