Five talking points of Barcelona 5-2 Real Betis

Antoine Griezmann had another puzzling afternoon in a Barcelona jersey on Saturday against Real Betis.

The Frenchman made a couple of early shots just wide, saw a penalty saved by Claudio Bravo, but then appeared with a goal and an assist in the second half.

The relief when he finally dialed was palpable and it was no surprise to see his face light up with a big smile. However, there was a more revealing shot at the end when the cameras focused on Griezmann sitting in the stands after being substituted and looking completely miserable.

The goal should give the Frenchman much-needed confidence, and Ronald Koeman praised the forward after the match. However, he can’t help but feel that Griezmann will be relieved to leave for France and walk away from Barca for a while.

Photo by Eric Alonso / Getty Images

The big surprise before kick-off was the news that Lionel Messi had been left out of the starting lineup for the match against Betis.

Koeman had refused to give Messi rest until now, and then it turned out that he was removed from the team after feeling a bit upset after Dynamo Kiev.

However, he would not have known he had a problem from his second half performance. The captain reached the break with the score 1-1 and led his team to victory 5-2.

The captain marvelously positioned Griezmann to make it 2-1, added Barca’s third from the penalty spot, and then scored his first open-play goal in 2020-21 to make it 4-2.

It was an influential performance by the captain and should silence some of the skeptics after some pointless criticism following the Dynamo Kiev victory.

Pedri started again with Barcelona against Betis and showed once again why he has so much playing time this season. No one expected the 17-year-old to be a regular on the team in November, but that’s what happened and he deserves it.

The teenager produced a brilliant pass to Antoine Grizemann that deserved much more from the Frenchman, but also appeared late to score his first La Liga goal for his new club.

Pedri has benefited from the injury of Philippe Coutinho, who has seen the Brazilian offside for the last four games, but in this form he could keep his place even when Coutinho is ready to return.

Photo by Eric Alonso / Getty Images

There is no doubt that the victory will relieve some pressure on Ronald Koeman after a four-game winless streak in La Liga, but there is still a lot of work to do for the new manager.

Once again, Barcelona have lost a number of occasions and now they have lost Ansu Fati through injury. The teenager has had a great start to the season and we will certainly miss him.

However, on the defensive there were also problems once again. Sergi Roberto provided two assists but that should not mask his struggles on the right side of the defense.

Meanwhile, Gerard Piqué and Clement Lenglet were far from dominating, as Barcelona continue to look vulnerable on defense.

Indeed, goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen didn’t have to be as influential on Saturday, but he still made a number of important saves to deny more Real Betis goals.

One player who is doing business with Barcelona is Ousmane Dembélé. The Frenchman scored his first La Liga goal in over a year with a simply brilliant goal to open the scoring.

It’s now three for the season for the 23-year-old and, perhaps most importantly, he’s also enjoying a series of games for the first time in a long time.

Dembélé also won the penalty in the second half after his goal kick was handled and he can be satisfied with a good afternoon of work.

Ansu Fati’s injury means that Dembélé will be even more important for Barça in the coming weeks and months, hopefully he can stay in shape and continue playing like this.