Girona hands out aspirin ahead of time

BarcelonaGirona was the classic aspirin team. With homework still to be done regarding permanence, the Catalans saw three points fly from home against a Betis that arrived at the appointment in free fall. It had been two months since the Verdiblancos had won a league match, and they emerged victorious in an exchange of blows of the kind that neutral supporters enjoy so much.

Some local fans had not yet sat down in their seats when Míchel's team took the lead. Echeverri, who without Vanat or Abel Ruiz occupies the center of the attack, seemed like Messi for a few seconds, but got tangled up at the last moment when Montilivi was preparing the handkerchief. Luckily, after the Argentine wasted his chance, Tsygankov recycled it into the 1-0, scored with half of Betis caught out. The Andalusians, who were coming off a rather traumatic elimination in the Europa League, felt the blow early on and were on the verge of conceding a second. However, as the minutes went by, they tamed Girona to the point of equalizing the match with an excellent placed shot from Marc Roca from the edge of the box (23'). Before halftime, Míchel's men had Blind as the main threat to get ahead again, but the Dutchman, a cult player, came close to completing two ventures into Valles' area. He lacked the speed to finish.

The absence of Blind was mourned, which in the restart allowed Betis to take the lead (63'). With Girona installed in the rival half, the veteran defender made a bad pass that allowed Bakambu, a substitute introduced by Pellegrini in the second half, to run into space with no more opposition than Gazzaniga. He was accompanied by Abde, whom he assisted to make it 1-2. But just as the Sevillians were celebrating the Moroccan's goal, Míchel moved the bench to open up the left flank with the electricity of Joel Roca, who in his first intervention provoked a clear penalty from Ruibal. Ounahi converted it to restore the tie in a scoreline that moved again at 80' when Riquelme scored – and celebrated despite his blanquivermello past – once more for the visitors. Too easy, to score goals against Girona, who in the final moments lamented a very tight offside by Stuani in the move that would have served Vitor Reis's equalizer.