Barça misses out on a chance to clinch the league title

BarcelonaNot every day can be a big party. Barcelona fans seemed ready for a victory that could have sealed the league title, but Betis took it upon themselves to spoil the Blaugrana's fortune by taking a draw, which isn't a serious accident either. Losing to a Betis side on a good run of results is a possibility, but after seeing how Madrid lost half the league at home to Valencia, Barcelona fans felt they had left Ancelotti's team alive. And we already know that, with Madrid, the sooner you knock them out, the better.

What was supposed to be a celebration had begun a few hours earlier with Hugo Duro's goal at the Santiago Bernabéu. Barcelona fans were heading for the Montjuïc stadium, happy. Spring had arrived, the sun was shining, and Madrid had stumbled, leaving them clear access to Canaletes. A perfect Saturday, in short. And when Gavi scored Barça's first goal, everything seemed like the script for one of those sugary romantic movies where everything goes well. The stadium, which often feels more like an end-of-year trip with happy tourists, was celebrating the performance of Flick's team. But there was a glimmer in that beautiful setting: Betis. Without playing the joyful game of other days, Pellegrini's team managed to equalize with a Natan header, which Szczesny swallowed. It would take some serious work to defeat the Sevillans.

For Betis, it seemed like a viable option to return home with a point, with a defensive approach in which they tried to connect with Antony and Cucho Hernández on the counterattack. However, more often than not, they came up short. Barça were in control of the match, with good pressure after losing a goal, with Cubarsí alert to recover a much-needed advantage, and long possessions. But this wasn't the cheerful Barça of other times, that electric team that eats away at the morale of their opponents. It was a somewhat slower Barça, who knows if due to fatigue after the Madrid Cup match, due to Betis's merits, or due to a bit of indolence. Or a bit of both. As on other occasions, Lewandowski seemed like a lonely castaway, disconnected from his rivals, waiting for his moment. The Pole sometimes seems like one of those predators who can hide behind bushes for hours waiting for the moment to pounce and bite. It's his way of understanding the game, always living in the enemy zone. But without Raphinha, Barça didn't quite feel comfortable, like when you break in a pair of boots. Ferran played on one side and Lamine Yamal did his thing on the other, with Pedri and Gavi assisting. Gavi was the big news and, in fact, scored the first goal with a beautiful assist from Ferran, at the start of a match in which it seemed everything would be a piece of cake. The midfielder didn't want to celebrate the goal, having played for Betis as a child, but he did want to hug Flick. The German earned the complicity of almost all the players, creating a close-knit unit that dominated the entire match. Against Betis, it wasn't like other matches this year where the team bites and plays at a very high pace. It looked more like a Barça of the past, the one that had eternal possession, as if they were playing handball.

Flick understood this and moved his pieces very quickly, bringing on Eric Garcia for a De Jong who wasn't having a good day, and Raphinha for Ferran. He hoped to regain some rhythm with the Brazilian, who can be a real pain, and improve ball circulation, because Gavi was fading after a good first half and Pedri was always facing two opposing players. The Canary Islander, tired—since he usually plays everything—ended up being replaced by a Flick who was racking his brains to figure out how to open up the opponents' defense. It should also be added that for one day, Lamine Yamal seemed like just a good player. When the youngster from Mataró isn't having a good day, he's still a great player, but Barça needed a hero to unlock a game that Kounde could have won when he was left one-on-one against Adrián, in one of Betis' few defensive errors. But the Frenchman is no Lewandowski, and Adrián saved the shot with a great stretch.

The game was entering that phase where the clock becomes your enemy. It wasn't about going crazy, either, since picking up a point would still put you four points behind Madrid, but everyone knew they had to take advantage of Valencia's gift. The Betis goalkeeper was taking longer and longer to get his shot off, Raphinha was trying to find the support of the fans, and Lewandowski couldn't come out, neither shooting from a free kick, nor jumping, nor colliding with Marc Bartra. No, it wasn't his day. Clear chances, aside from Kounde's, were few. Lots of crosses, close calls, and nothing more. In the end, Betis even gave a scare with two close calls when Barça could no longer even speak. Instead of taking a big step forward, they had to take a small one just before the Champions League returned. A minor accident that hurts less than Madrid's.