Felix, Cancelo on target as Barcelona crush Betis

Published September 18, 2023
BARCELONA: Raphinha (C) of Barcelona shoots to score during the La Liga match against Real Betis at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.—Reuters
BARCELONA: Raphinha (C) of Barcelona shoots to score during the La Liga match against Real Betis at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.—Reuters

BARCELONA: Barcelona put on a scintillating performance to crush visitors Real Betis 5-0 on Saturday as new arrivals Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo struck their first goals for the Catalans.

Earlier, Atletico Madrid were hammered 3-0 by Valencia at Mestalla with coach Diego Simeone labelling it the “weakest” performance during his time at the club.

Xavi Hernandez’s side provisionally moved top of the table with 13 points from five games, one point ahead of Real Madrid who host Real Sociedad late on Sunday.

Xavi handed Felix and compatriot Cancelo their first starts for the club and they quickly impressed home fans and their coach.

Loan signing Felix put Barcelona ahead after 25 minutes with a shot from a tight angle after he had missed his first attempt following a superb Oriol Romeu cross.

“I had a bad shot on the goal but I kept looking for the ball and finally scored,” the 23-year-old Felix told Movistar Plus.

“Everyone did very well. Everyone was where they should be. When you have a good structure and the ball circulates quickly, the spaces and the goals appear”.

Robert Lewandowski doubled the lead after a neat move in which Andreas Christensen slipped a pass to Felix who left the ball to give the Poland striker an easy finish.

Ferran Torres scored his third goal of the season with a low free kick into the bottom right corner in the 62nd minute before substitute Raphinha netted from the edge of the area to make it 4-0.

“I didn’t know we hadn’t scored from a free-kick since Messi,” Torres said after scoring the first free-kick goal for Barcelona since May 2021.Cancelo scored his first goal since joining Barca on loan from Manchester City to complete the rout nine minutes from time.

Coach Xavi said on the triumph: “It wasn’t a perfect game but it was excellent. We had a lot of brilliant moments. This is the way”.

Barcelona face Antwerp in their Champions League opener on Tuesday before hosting Celta Vigo in La Liga.

In the night’s other fixture, Atletico coach Simeone said his team put in their “weakest” performance of his 12-year reign in their three-goal thrashing by Valencia.

Hugo Duro netted a brace for the hosts and Javi Guerra tucked home the third as they dominated.

Los Che have started the season well after flirting with relegation until the final day of the previous campaign, and this was their finest outing yet under coach Ruben Baraja.

“We had the weakest game since I arrived at the club, and we have to congratulate our opponents,” said Simeone.

Defeat was the worst way for Atletico to prepare for the start of their Champions League campaign on Tuesday at Lazio.

“They came into the game with a lot more intensity and if you don’t match it ... it’s impossible to win any game,” said Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao earned a convincing 3-0 win over Cadiz to move provisionally third while Mallorca earned a late 1-0 win over Celta Vigo through Vedat Muriqi’s goal.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2023

Opinion

Editorial

Trump’s folly
Updated 13 Feb, 2025

Trump’s folly

This latest pronouncement only reinforces the fears of those who see the plan as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing.
Corruption ranking
13 Feb, 2025

Corruption ranking

IT comes as little surprise. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2024, unveiled on...
Support from remittances
13 Feb, 2025

Support from remittances

EVEN though workers’ remittances dipped, albeit negligibly, in January on a month-over-month basis, the earnings...
Ill omens
Updated 12 Feb, 2025

Ill omens

One wonders whether institutional leadership realises the long-term ramifications of the ongoing "remaking" of judiciary.
Sunken dreams
12 Feb, 2025

Sunken dreams

ANOTHER tragedy has struck Pakistani migrants seeking a better future. A boat capsizing off the Libyan coast has ...
Hate in India
12 Feb, 2025

Hate in India

HISTORY shows that rulers use hate speech to provoke hate crimes and ‘othering’ among communities. Indian Prime...