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Lionel Messi dominance kept Barcelona alive in their La Liga game yesterday vs Real Betis as he provided a hat-trick of assists for Barcelona's three goals of the night. Barcelona won 3-2. Quique Setien's anticipated return to the Estadio Benito Villamarin turned out to be a difficult night for the Cules as they got off to a rocky start of the match. The visitors were stunned by the hosts (Real Betis) as Sergio Canales scored from the penalty spot in in the sixth minute after a handball was called by VAR on Clement Lenglet. Three minutes later, Messi' sent a pinpoint pass onto Frenkie de Jong's chest and the latter converted into a goal, Barcelona's first for the night.  In the 26th minute, Nabil Fekir's long-range shot restored the lead for Real Betis. Sergio Busquets converted Messi's freekick into a goal in the final seconds of the first half to make Barcelona level with the hosts. In the second half, Clement Lenglet scored a header from a loftin...

Messi celebrates free-kick goal An unusual, yet powerful performance was given by Barcelona in the league game versus Betis yesterday. Barcelona didn't dominate possession (43.9%), which was so unlike them, recording their lowest possession in a league game since the 2004-05 season, but that didn't matter as they were so clinical with their counterattack. Valverde's 4-4-2 diamond midfield lineup worked out so well, with Philippe Coutinho dropped for Arturo Vidal to be added as fourth midfield player.  Arturo was particularly constructive in the midfield, assisting the Messi-Suarez attack duo. He won the free-kick Messi converted into a goal in the 18th minute. Messi scored Barcelona's second goal just before the break thanks to a superb no-look back-heel assist from Luis Suarez.  Construct to Suarez's goal Suarez grabbed his own goal in the 63rd minute, a solo effort in which he outran four Betis players and tucked a beautiful goal. Betis were able to...

The Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi, had a rather marred return to action as his brace against Real Betis counts for nothing. For the first time in Messi's stunning Barcelona career, he has scored a brace but ended up on the losing side. Messi was excellent but was let down by his supporting cast time and again. Barcelona had a quite vulnerable defense, which was easily penetrated by Tello and Junior. Rakitic, Busquets and Arthur were below par performance in the midfield. Arturo Vidal was in top form as he creating a scoring opportunity in which Messi hit the woodwork 15 seconds after coming in for Arthur (in the second half). Rakitic was sent off in the 81st minute after receiving a second yellow card booking. Messi had a key role to play in all three goals scored by Barcelona; he scored two goals and made an assist for Vidal's goal. Nonetheless, Messi's double against Real Betis puts him atop La Liga scoring charts, with Luis Suarez who has also found the net ...