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[1/5]Soccer Football – LaLiga – FC Barcelona v Real Betis – Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, Spain – September 16, 2023 FC Barcelona’s Joao Cancelo in action before he scores their fifth goal REUTERS/Albert Gea Acquire Licensing Rights
BARCELONA, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Barcelona put on a scintillating performance to crush visitors Real Betis 5-0 on Saturday and provisionally move top of the LaLiga standings.
Xavi Hernandez’s side moved up to 13 points from five games, one point ahead of Real Madrid who host Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Loan signing Joao Felix put Barcelona ahead after 25 minutes with a shot from a tight angle after he had missed his first attempt following a superb Oriol Romeu cross.
“I had a bad shot on the goal but I kept looking for the ball and finally scored,” the 23-year-old Felix told Movistar Plus.
“Everyone did very well. Everyone was where they should be. When you have a good structure and the ball circulates quickly, the spaces and the goals appear”.
“I’m working to be at my best. The team spirit great. It’s easy to play among them. I’m very happy here.”
Robert Lewandowski doubled the lead after a neat move in which Andreas Christensen slipped a pass to Felix who left the ball to give the Poland striker an easy finish.
Ferran Torres scored his third goal of the season with a low free kick into the bottom right corner in the 62nd minute before substitute Raphinha netted from the edge of the area to make it 4-0.
“I didn’t know we hadn’t scored from a free-kick since Messi,” Torres said after scoring the first free-kick goal for Barcelona since May 2021.
“It could have been someone else but I’m glad it was me of course. The unseen training pays off, we are a team that has made a big qualitative leap forward. I’m full of confidence.”
Joao Cancelo scored his first goal since joining Barca on loan from Manchester City to complete the rout nine minutes from time.
Coach Xavi said on the triumph: “It wasn’t a perfect game but it was excellent. We had a lot of brilliant moments. This is the way”.
Barcelona face Antwerp in their Champions League opener on Tuesday before hosting Celta Vigo in LaLiga.
Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City, editing by Ed Osmond
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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