Barcelona Continues Strong Form with Five-Goal Victory Over Betis
Barcelona Continues Strong Form with Five-Goal Victory Over Betis
Translated by Qiyas from الراي — Original source
Defending champions Barcelona prepared for their French clash with Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League with a strong 5-2 victory over hosts Real Betis, extending their lead at the top of the table to five points over second-placed Atletico Madrid, who secured a last-gasp win against Espanyol on Saturday in the ninth round of the Spanish La Liga.
The Catalan side scored four goals for the second consecutive match, following their 4-1 win over Turkish side Galatasaray on Tuesday. Notably, they have not exited any of their last nine games with fewer than three goals.
The match also provided an opportunity for Barcelona’s Brazilian winger Raphinha to return to the pitch after missing two games due to injury. He came on as a second-half substitute, arriving just in time ahead of Tuesday’s match against titleholders Saint-Germain in Matchday 3 of the Champions League’s new unified league phase.
Paina scored the only goal of the match after coming on in the 62nd minute. The goal came from a counterattack that reached the other substitute, Argentine forward Julian Alvarez, who laid it off to Paina, who fired a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area into the net in the 89th minute.
