Barcelona’s Messi earns 9/10 for match-winning cameo after starting among subs

Lionel Messi came off the bench to inspire a 5-2 victory over Real Betis to a 10-0 victory over Barcelona on Saturday as Ronald Coeman’s La Liga side ended a four-game winless run.

Messi used Antoine Griezmann with a beautiful dummy before scoring from the penalty area for his sixth goal of the season, although it was his first in open play.

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Barca took the lead over Usman Dembele, but missed numerous opportunities to double their lead, including a missed penalty kick for Grizman. Betis made them pay when Antonio Sanabria scored the equalizer in halftime.

Kuman picked up Messi in a break and in the minutes that followed he helped Griezmann set up and scored a penalty kick after Aissa Mandi was sent to the line to edit the ball. Betis came back into the game briefly by Lauren Moron, but goals from Messi and Pedry gave Barca a three-point lead.

Positive

Friday, Kuman was inundated with questions about Messi’s uniform, suggesting that the attacker is about to diminish. This performance has shown that there is still nothing wrong. And although Messi probably won’t doubt himself, he’s coming out of the open game for the first time this season.

More positive? Dembele looks good, Pedry keeps delivering, and Frankie de Jong was good. First of all it was fun to watch Barca and there were a lot of chances – they could score 10 points.

Negative

The downside of the medal is that they also missed a lot of chances. They could have scored four points in the first ten minutes and remained out of sight until the break. In the end they achieved a resounding victory, but there is still room for improvement.

There’s work to be done in the back. The objectives of Betis could have been avoided.

Score of 10 for managers

7 — Kuman finally took a break from Messi, who started the club’s last 37 league games. The 45 minutes he spent on the couch did him a lot of good in the second half.

Player rankings (1-10; 10 = the best players registered after 70 minutes are not scored)

G.K. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, 6 — Did a good early morning rescue for William Carvalho. There wasn’t much we could have done with the Betis targets.

DF Sergi Roberto, 6 — Both goals were scored on his cross and he lost his individual game with the impressive Alex Moreno. A balanced show with two big late performances, one for Messi and one for Pedry.

DF Gerard Peak, 5… He might have been better suited to Betis’ needs. We have to play a lot because of the absence of central defender Barca, so he will take advantage of the next international break.

DF Clement Lenglet, 5… Like Pick, not his best performance. He lost his concentration, maybe because Barca spent a lot of time in the game further down the field.

DF Geordi Alba, six… He’s indeed on the attack. His balls led directly or indirectly to Barca’s first penalty and Griezman’s goal.

MF Sergio Busquets, 6 — There have been occasional difficulties this season, but this week, in the games against Dynamo and Kiev Betis, things have improved a little.

MF Frankie de Jong, 7 years old, is one of his best performances this season. He slid forward with the ball stuck to his feet and made good use of it.

Fault! The file name is not specified. Barcelona has ended its failed run 5-2. Eric Alonso/Getty Pictures

FW Ousmane Dembele, 8 — He took a great left foot shot and won the second penalty against Barca when he was on the line.

FW Antoine Grizman, 6 — The French internationalist’s performance was good, but his performance was unhappy. He missed four good chances, including a penalty, before, thanks to Messi’s ingenuity, he ended up in an empty net.

FW Pedri, 7 — Plays more minutes than expected this season and continues to show why. Griezmann’s great deep pass deserved help, and he eventually scored his second goal for the club.

FW Ansu Fati, 6 — Got the first penalty, but missed a few chances in the first half before coming out with a minor injury.

Replace.

FV Lionel Massey, 9 years old — One assist and two goals were a good comeback for his 45 minutes on the field.

F.V. Francisco Trinaco, 6… I came for Dembele, and everything went well.

FW Martin Braithwaite, NR. Late show at Grizman’s.

MF Miralem Pjanic, NR — The bouquets exchanged come too late to make a difference in the game.