Barcelona failed to maintain their lead against Real Betis, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw in La Liga.
After today’s draw, Barcelona’s points total rose to 38, keeping them in first place in the La Liga standings, while Real Betis remains in 11th place with 21 points.
According to information from the Spanish newspaper “El Nacional”, today’s draw against Betis caused great regret for German coach Hansi Flick, who expressed his deep disappointment at Barcelona’s inability to hold onto the lead in the final minutes.
The newspaper added that Flick acknowledged and took responsibility for the setback, admitting that his early substitution of Rafinha to rest him was a poor decision. He stated: “It would have been better to rest him in the last Mallorca match after securing the result, not in today’s match.”
The newspaper also mentioned that the German coach seems to have made a decisive decision to exclude Ferran Torres from future matchdays. Despite the Spanish player’s scoring of Barcelona’s second goal, he missed a clear opportunity to seal the match with a third goal before Betis equalized.
Furthermore, the newspaper reported that Flick went to console Barcelona’s star player and man of the match, Lamine Yamal, who was devastated by the shocking draw. Flick embraced the player and told him: “I wish I had 11 players with your skill and high fighting spirit for the badge.”
The young Spanish player put in a fantastic performance, but in the end, he was let down by his teammates, and the team left with a draw in a crucial match for the La Liga title race.
In an unexpected development, Joan Laporta expressed his anger at Flick’s decisions tonight and had a tense conversation with the German coach. He warned him about the combination of Gavi and De Jong on the field, believing that Betis controlled the match because of this duo. Laporta warned Flick not to repeat this combination, stating that their continued pairing could expose the team’s season to collapse in a way no one could have predicted.
The newspaper also added that Laporta was frustrated with the substitution of Rafinha, a player capable of making a difference at any moment, especially since the team had not yet secured the result when he was taken off.
The newspaper concluded that Barcelona’s management is beginning to have doubts about Hansi Flick’s leadership, particularly due to his strange decisions and substitutions that seem to turn matches against Barcelona.