After battling for over 120 minutes FC Barcelona defeated Real Betis in the Penalty Shootout to reach the Spanish Super Cup final. Here is the Match Report of Barcelona vs Real Betis – Semi Final.
FC Barcelona and Real Betis clashed last night to book their place in the Super cup final in a thrilling encounter which ended in a penalty shootout, sending FC Barcelona through to the final against Real Madrid.
Table of contents
First Half
FC Barcelona controlled the game in a commanding fashion by attempting quick passes and attacking the Real Betis penalty box, Real Betis had no answer for the fast pace action Barcelona produced. FC Barcelona created several goal-scoring chances but failed to convert them until Pedri broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute with an outstretched boot, forcing the ball into the net.
The dugout and the players thought that was the opening goal but a late VAR check ruled out the goal due to Raphinha straying offside in the build-up play.
The game moved on while FC Barcelona constantly attacked the Real Betis goal, finally the breakthrough occurred when Robert Lewandowski put Barcelona ahead in the 40th minute with a neat finish on the 2nd time.
Barcelona 1 vs 0 Real Betis(Robert Lewandowski goal)
— ً (@iE86s) January 12, 2023
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Marc Andre Ter Stegen produced some great saves to keep Betis at bay while Ronald Araujo constantly shined throughout the 1st half.
FC Barcelona ended the 1st half with a slender one goal lead and thanks to the heroics of their defence.
Second Half
The Catalans continued the same flow in the 2nd half up until the 63rd minute when Xavi decided to make a double substitution. Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie De Jong were subbed off by Ferran Torres and Sergio Busquets.
After the substitutions, Barcelona lost control of the game and Real Betis started to threaten with their attacking. Subbing off Dembele really hurt the buildup play from the flanks of the Catalans. As a result of that, Real Betis gained more control of the game. Nabil Fekir equalized in the 77th minute to get Betis back into the game.
GOAL | Barcelona 1 vs 1 Real Betis (Fekir)
— ً (@iE86s) January 12, 2023
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However Barcelona scored again in the 81st minute when Lewandowski slotted home the pass sent by Ferran Torres to make it 2-1, but yet again VAR intervened to spoil the party, Ferran Torres was offside before setting up Lewandowski and the goal was ruled out.
The game ended 1-1 in the regular time and headed towards extra time.
Extra time
In the 93 rd minute, Ansu Fati scored a sensational volley to take Barcelona into the lead once again (2-1) but his efforts were shortlived when Real Betis equalized just 7 minutes after when Loren Moron scored a backheel goal to catch Marc Andre Ter Stegen off-guard. (2-2)
The game ended 2-2 after 120 minutes of nonstop action and it was time for a dreaded penalty shootout.
GoAL |Barcelona 2 vs 1 Real Betis (Fati)
— ً (@iE86s) January 12, 2023
pic.twitter.com/v2pAq0u0Q5
Penalty Shootout
Real Betis kicked off the shootout with William Jose successfully converting his spot-kick to put Real Betis ahead in the shootout.
Robert Lewandowski stepped up first for FC Barcelona and fooled Claudio Bravo with his unique penalty technique to level the scores in the shootout.
L.Moron who equalized in the extra time for Betis stepped up next and converted his penalty as well.
Frank Kessie slotted home the next penalty of FC Barcelona to make it even in the shootout.
Marc Andre Ter Stegen saved the next two penalties of Real Betis to give the Catalans the upper hand and finally Pedri kicked the winning penalty to take FC Barcelona into the finals.
Credits: ArabNewsSport
Our Thoughts
Ter Stegen, once again became the difference maker for FC Barcelona, The German shot-stopper produced 5 saves in regular time ( 4 inside the penalty box ) and saved 2 spot-kicks in the shootout to guarantee the win for The Blaugranas. He is on red-hot form this season in the league and it’s a pleasure to see him bringing that same form to the cup games as well. After some disappointing seasons, Ter Stegen is back to his best and it will surely help Barcelona this season if they were to win some silverware.
Ronald Araujo once again showed why he is the most important player in the FC Barcelona backline, the Uruguayan centre-back had a great game last night making crucial tackles and clearances when he was most needed, with him alongside Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen, FC Barcelona have a reliable backline that Xavi can count on.
Check our Match Award Article for Best Defeder, Midfielder, Forward, MOTM etc.
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