| Starting Lineup: | |
| 01. Marc-Andre ter Stegen (G) 03. Gerard Pique 18. Jordi Alba 15. Clement Lenglet 04. Ivan Rakitic 05. Sergio Busquets 08. Arthur 20. Sergi Roberto 09. Luis Suarez 14. Malcom 10. Lionel Messi | 13. Pau Lopez (G) 12. Sidnei 23. Aissa Mandi 05. Marc Bartra 20. Junior Firpo 17. Joaquin 18. Andres Guardado 14. William Carvalho 21. Giovani Lo Celso 16. Loren Moron 11. Christian Tello |
Substitutes: | |
| 13. Jasper Cillessen (G) 02. Nelsinho Semedo 23. Samuel Umtiti 22. Arturo Vidal 06. Denis Suarez 26. Carles Alena 19. Munir | 01. Joel Robles (G) 04. Zouhair Feddal 19. Antonio Barragan 08. Takashi Inui 06. Canales 07. Sergio Leon 09. Antonio Sanabria |
Messi Returns In Barca's Shock Seven-Goal Thriller Loss
Lionel Messi's return to action did not prove fruitful for FC Barcelona on Sunday, as the LaLiga champions suffered a shock 4-3 defeat to Real Betis at the Camp Nou.
The hosts defence looked shaky from the onset and Betis took advantage as Junior Firpo got the opener Quique Setien’s charges in the 20th minute after bursting into the box before firing past Blaugrana goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen at the near post, 0-1.
Juaquin unbelievably made it 2-0 for Betis in the 34th minute with a simple finish at close range after Cristian Tello did all the work on the right wing to deliver a perfect in-swinger across the face of goal.
The visitors were mesmerizing on counter-attacks, pulling Barça apart on the wings, while Ernesto Valverde's struggled to carve out a clear-cut opening.
The hosts were a little bit shell-shocked by the first half performance from Betis, who went into the break with a surprise 2-0 lead.
Sergio Busquets came close to pulling a goal back for Valverde’s men six minutes into the second stanza with a free header inside the box but he could not direct his effort on target.
The Blaugrana were awarded a penalty in the 68th minute after Jordi Alba was brought down inside the box, allowing Messi to step up to pull a goal back for the hosts, 1-2.
The celebrations were short-lived for Barça as Giovanni Lo Celso restored a two-goal cushion for Betis with a strike that appeared to be a comfortable height for Ter Stegen however the German goalkeeper palmed the effort over his own head, 1-3.
Arturo Vidal kept Barça’s hopes of a comeback alive with a goal 11 minutes before time, turning home a square pass from Munir, 2-3.
Two minutes later Valverde’s charges were reduced to ten men after Ivan Rakitic was sent off for a second bookable offence after lunging on Lo Celso in midfield for his second booking.
Canales made it 4-2 for the visitors seven minutes before time by lurking on the far side of the box before punishing Blaugrana from a counter-attack.
Messi did pull third goal back for the hosts in stoppage time with a tap in after a cross from Vidal to make, but it was not enough to rescue the match as Betis held on for the famous victory.