FC Barcelona v Real Betis 0-1 Match Review: Dembele Lethal, Depay Invisible, Xavi‘s Barca Countered

The Barca Breakdown discussed the first loss under the Xavi Era against Real Betis. Unfortunately, Xavi did not choose to start Dembele and Frenkie De Jong who were both instrumental in the majority of opportunities on goal. The Barca starting line-up featured Dest as right back, Abde as right wing, and Gavi moved back to the midfield. The first 15 minutes had opportunities for Barca to score and press Betis. Despite this, Barca fell into their usual low energy, slow, and unmotivated game finishing off the first half. As the second half progressed, Xavi recognized changes were needed especially after Gavi was removed for Puig due to a head injury. Dembele came on and immediately made a world of difference with his speed, passing, and shots on goal. A few shots were just wide from Dembele giving a sense of hope and lethality. Like usual, Barca played a high defensive line resulting in a counter and the winning goal from Juanmi. Furthermore, Dest was unaware and did not mark Juanmi, leaving Stegen to concede. We criticized Xavi for his choice of starters, assuming he rested them for the game against Bayern Munich. We question why there was a need to do this assuming our true hope to progress in the Champions League will result from Benfica losing or drawing to Dynamo Kyiv. Overall, we need to prioritize La Liga to climb the table for next year's Champions League. Barca Face Bayern Munich on Wednesday, December 8th. Please like, comment and subscribe to our channel! Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarcaBreakdown​​​​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barcabreakdown Listen to our podcast on Spotify or Apple/Itunes Podcast. Please support the Barca Breakdown and subscribe to our channel and like our videos. Please let us know in the comments what type of content you want to see more of!