On Saturday, Xavi once again praised the mental integrity of Ferran Torres for his spirit of resistance in the face of adversity, be it substitution, be it defeats, be it failures, and the Valencian gave credibility to his coach’s comment. The Valencian plays because of his determination, and also because of his state of grace in front of the goal, a success rate that pushes Barça away from catastrophe.

Ferran tied Unionistas’ unacceptable 1-0 in the Cup on Wednesday, and left Seville with a hat trick of goals, once again opening the scoring to create an essential victory in the League and closing it. Ravenous and deadly the self-proclaimed Shark, who left a trail of blood in his swim through the Guadalquivir, The team needed the now substitute João Félix to perform a magic trick to give the Barça team the lead on the scoreboard.

Question of courage

Barça prepared at the Villamarín knowing he plunder that Almería experienced at the Bernabéu, where a debutant referee (Hernández Maeso) awarded a penalty to Madrid after fouls against two defenders, annulled a goal against Almería and gave another to Vinicius with his hand, paving the way to make it 0-2 and those images united the group, imbuing courage to try to undertake a chimerical comeback, given the different security and solvency with which the two greats move.

The same courage of Madrid was exhibited by Betis, who were facing a 0-2 draw against a reborn Barça and hearing whistles from their fans at half-time. The reaction of the Sevillian eleven differed in ways seen in Madrid. His goals, in fact, needed to be endorsed by the VAR, but they came from their own football, with concessions from the rival (those from Barça, not those from Almería) and more quickly, in three minutes of magical appearance of Isco, invisible until then.

Less than 15 minutes had passed after the break, and the Barça eleven ruined the excellent initial 45 and gave Xavi another example to maintain that his team plays well. In any case, he does it for a very short time, insufficient to keep up with the level of the first.

With two 16 year olds

Barça appeared with two 16-year-old children forced by casualties. The absences could not be and were not a mitigating factor against a Betis team that was as burdened or more burdened than the Blaugranas, but Xavi, in addition to lacking enough players, has lost the reasons to give favors to anyone, in the same way that several of his men no longer They can ask their coach for anything. If Koundé hates playing as a winger, he has two problems.

The Frenchman woke up without having been on the bench, and João Félix, a four-time substitute since the start of the year, has woken up. He left the chair free for Lewandowski to sit in.

Barça took risks in the end. Also from the beginning, forced to recover the ground that his predecessors have taken with aid (Madrid) and without it (Girona). He defended with three (Koundé, Araujo and Cubarsí), created with four (Balde was the four midfielder) and attacked with three. There was, however, a greater sensitivity to protect each other, with a general withdrawal that involved everyone except Lewandowski, replaced again. Vitor Roque entered his place. He had a chance and missed it.

Barça scored first (although Betis was able to go ahead, like everyone else, with a too-high shot from Luiz Enrique after catching Cubarsí’s back) and their players saw how comfortable it is to manage a game from the advantage. Even more so if he fits in against an opponent like Betis, refined, ergo not very aggressive.

Barça played with an unknown comfort, extending their possessions, even allowing themselves some excesses, with the same greed as someone who goes on a binge after weeks of eating boiled vegetables. This volume of general recreation, all exquisite, irritated the green and white fans, who despite the good results seen live – Betis had not lost a game at the Villamarín – protested the laxity they saw in theirs.

One could not blame Cubarsi, who distributed passes with the naturalness of someone who has been doing it all his life, no matter the place or the opponent, with his head raised and the bearing of a veteran, without accusing the first hesitation that could have cost him dearly. . It was the last one. He left early, like Lewandowski, but he left a very different trail: 20 years younger, his first-year youth legs could not keep up with the pace of the elite.

Lamine Yamal’s talents are different from the same daring and he has learned to measure himself. More dedicated in the retreat, as her coach demanded, she put together a great game that hid the Tiburon’s jaw. Ferran’s bites came after three plays by the youth.