Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick, Lamine Yamal converted a penalty and Rooney Bulge shone in a rare start as Barcelona beat Real Betis 5-3 in La Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona defeated fifth-place Betis in Seville to open up a four-point gap over Real Madrid before hosting Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Torres has progressed from being a bench player to Hansi Flick’s most used striker. The Spanish forward has started more games than Robert Lewandowski, who is 37 years old and has seen his playing time decline.
Torres is Barcelona’s top scorer with 13 goals in all competitions. In La Liga, he has scored 11 points through 15 matches, which is more than his 10 points in the entire league last season. Only Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbapp (16 goals) has scored more goals in the domestic league this season.
“I already knew that I could be a starter here at Barcelona and that I could compete for this position,” Torres said. “Now we have to work harder. The most important thing was their ability to respond to early goals.”
It was Torres’ fourth career hat-trick, and he also scored three goals in a 4-2 win at Betis last year.
Baljij impressed in his third start since the 20-year-old Swedish winger joined Barcelona from Copenhagen in the summer. His dribbling was excellent and he fed Torres with a cross to score the winning goal, before making it 3-1 with a powerful shot from just inside the area.
Lewandowski and Rafinha never left the Barcelona bench. This means both sides will be rested until Barcelona host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Anthony put Betis ahead in the sixth minute at the Benito Villamarín Stadium. However, Barcelona hit back through Torres.
Torres slipped behind the defensive line and tapped in a square pass from Jules Kound.
Torres scored again two minutes later, acrobatically volleying a cross from Baljiji between the legs of goalkeeper Lubalo Valls. Bulge scored in the 31st inning, 3-1, and in the 40th, Torres took a shot from outside the area, but it hit a defender and went the wrong way for Bulge, resulting in a triple.
inner yamal
The match featured a tactical novelty for Barcelona. Yamal spent most of the match playing in an intelligent and creative midfield role rather than on the right wing.
Yamal stayed connected with his teammates and participated in the passing movement that led to Torres’ opening goal. In the 59th minute, Marcus Rashford’s shot hit the raised arm of Marc Bartra, resulting in Barcelona’s fifth goal.
Betis eased the pain in the closing stages with a goal from Diego Llorente and a penalty from Cucho Herndez after Kound fouled Abde in the box.
Rashford had a great chance to break through alone and put Barcelona up by six points, but his shot went wide and only Valls were able to break it.
Betis, coached by Manuel Pellegrini, were in good form having defeated city rivals Sevilla in the previous match and were unbeaten in eight games. Betis will be overtaken by Espanyol on Sunday if they draw with Rayo Vallecano.
Fermun Lupez returned midway through the second half after the Barcelona midfielder missed two games with a foot injury.
