Lionel Messi came off the bench to help Barca end their winning drought.
Barcelona have ended their losing streak in La Liga after thrashing Real Betis 5-2 at Camp Nou.
Ronald Koeman opted to leave Lionel Messi on the bench and instead went with Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati in the attack.
The home side started the game brightly but their inefficacy in the final third continued after Griezmann and Fati missed their chances.
Not long after, Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring after a brilliant left-footed finish, assisted by Griezmann.
Griezmann had the chance to double the lead from the penalty spot after a foul on Fati. However, the Frenchman’s shot was saved by Claudio Bravo.
Barca might have rued their missed chances when Sanabria levelled for Betis right before the half time.
As expected, Lionel Messi was subbed on in the second half, and he had an immediate impact when his intelligent dummy helped Griezmann’s goal in restoring the lead.
The Argentine then scored a penalty, which was resulted from Aissa Mandini’s handball clearance on the goal line. It also got him dismissed as he had previously picked up a yellow card in the first half.
However, Manuel Pellegrini’s men pulled one back despite being a man down. Loren, who had come off the bench, was the scorer.
With an open play goal still missing from Lionel Messi this season, the Argentine scored one after beating Claudio Bravo for the second time in the match.
Barca capped off the game with a goal from Pedri, who slotted the ball into the nets after a well-worked low cross from Sergi Roberto.
The win would restore Barca’s confidence as they were without one in their last four games in La Liga.
