Barcelona miss chance to move closer to LaLiga title with draw against Betis | OneFootball

Barcelona failed to take advantage of the opportunity to take a bigger lead at the top of LaLiga and only drew 1-1 with Betis in Catalonia. Despite this, it's worth noting that Barça put in a performance that matched their favoritism for the title, but the team coached by Manuel Pellegrini put in another exceptional performance with plenty of tactical and technical discipline.

With greater control of the ball during the first half, Barça came to dominate the action against their rivals and were rewarded with the opening goal, in a beautiful move constructed in midfield. From a free-kick won by Koundé, the pass went to Ferrán, who with a fine touch left Gavi in a position to hit a cross and open the scoring.

However, Betis sprang a surprise and found the equalizer soon afterwards when Nathan beat Ronald Araújo to Lo Celso's corner. For the rest of the first half, Hansi Flick took advantage of having another player in the area to stop Betis' transitions, which continued to suffer from Barça's high pressure.

In the second half, Barcelona insisted on playing inside and continued to press in search of a goal with a lot of attacking action from Koudé, Pedri, Gavi and Adrián, in a game that was underperformed by Lamine Yamal. Brazilian Raphinha had the better chances in the final minutes, playing on the right and causing danger to the opposition, but Betis were disciplined in defense and almost came away with the win, with Nathan pulling off a great save from Szczesny.

Barcelona shouldn't worry after draw with Betis

FC Barcelona v Real Betis Balompie - La Liga EA Sports | Pedro Salado/GettyImages

Considering their performance against one of the best teams in Europe today, Barcelona can be satisfied with increasing their lead over Real Madrid to 4 points. That margin will certainly ease the pressure on Hansi Flick's side, who will have the chance to open up an even bigger lead if they maintain the 4 points ahead of El Clásico.