Seville’s temporary football home staged a wild evening as Barcelona beat Real Betis 5-2 at La Cartuja, stretching their winning start to nine matches in the 2026-27 Liga season. Hansi Flick’s side moved beyond the eight-game opening run set under Tata Martino in 2013-14 and matched Real Madrid’s long-standing competition record from 1968-69.
The scoreline did not tell the full story of a tense, high-level contest between two Champions League clubs. Betis, third in the table and unbeaten at home before Barcelona’s visit, repeatedly troubled the leaders before Facundo Bernal’s dismissal shortly after the hour changed the balance of the night.
Lamine Yamal was the central figure. The Barcelona winger scored a superb early opener, supplied Gabriel Jesus and created the free-kick sequence that led to Eric Garcia’s goal. He was also on the receiving end of Bernal’s headbutt, an incident that reduced Betis to 10 players with the score at 3-2.
Lamine sets the pace in Seville
Barcelona were already a man down in practical terms when they took the lead in the ninth minute, with Gerard Martin receiving treatment after an earlier collision. Yamal combined twice with Jules Kounde from deep, beat Bernal with a backheel and curled a left-footed shot into the top corner from outside the area. It was his eighth league goal of the campaign.
Betis responded with purpose and drew level in the 28th minute. Gabriel Jesus failed to clear a corner, Pablo Fornals recovered the ball and delivered for Valentin Gomez, whose powerful header beat Joan Garcia.
The hosts had chances to take control. Joan Garcia made an outstanding save from Hector Bellerin at the far post, while Kounde intervened to halt an Abde break. Barcelona, however, regained their advantage four minutes before the interval when Rodrigo Hernandez headed in a Fermin Lopez corner after Alvaro Valles had come out without gathering convincingly.
There was further controversy before half-time. Giovani Lo Celso struck an excellent volley into the corner, only for the video review to identify a handball by Cucho Hernandez in the build-up. Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea reviewed the incident at the monitor and ruled out the goal. Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini was booked for his protests.
Gomez, who had scored Betis’ first goal, said at the interval that he had not seen the sequence clearly but believed the handling had been accidental and that the goal should have stood.
A turning point after the restart
Eric Garcia replaced the injured Gerard Martin at the break, while Nelson Deossa came on for Dani Ceballos for Betis. Barcelona nearly extended their lead through Fermin, denied by Valles, and Gabriel Jesus also had an effort flagged for a narrow offside.
The third Barcelona goal arrived in the 53rd minute. Fermin won possession in a challenge that Betis felt was a foul, Yamal released Jesus and the Brazilian finished from close range. Abde answered almost immediately, breaking through Barcelona’s high defensive line to beat Joan Garcia one-on-one.
Then came the decisive confrontation. Bernal and Yamal clashed after Fermin had gone to ground, with Betis players apparently believing Barcelona were seeking the cancellation of their second goal. Bernal headbutted Yamal and was shown a straight red card in the 55th minute. Yamal was cautioned for pushing the Betis midfielder beforehand.
Bellerin later said Bernal understood that he could not act that way and had apologised to the squad. The Betis captain also complained that Lo Celso’s disallowed goal followed a push and described the two disputed incidents as being judged differently, while insisting his team would not use officiating as an excuse for defeat.
Barcelona took advantage of the extra player eight minutes later. Yamal’s free kick deflected off the wall, Valles misjudged his attempt to punch clear, Pau Cubarsi headed the loose ball across goal and Eric Garcia finished from close range.
Flick used the chance to protect players ahead of a demanding week. Dani Olmo and Anthony Gordon replaced Fermin and Karim Adeyemi, while Raphinha came on for Yamal after returning from a minor injury suffered with Brazil. The Brazilian, who leads the league scoring chart with 12 goals, had missed two matches and entered in an intense atmosphere that had seen Yamal jeered.
Olmo completed the scoring in the 82nd minute, carrying the ball forward from attacking midfield before guiding a fine finish inside the post. It was Barcelona’s fifth goal and made him, Hernandez and Garcia the latest new scorers for the club this season. Barcelona have now had 13 different scorers and are averaging more than four goals per match.
The visitors finished with 10 men themselves. Garcia went down without the ball in the 90th minute, appearing to hurt his right quadriceps, and could not continue. Flick had already used all five substitutions, so Hernandez dropped back into defence for the closing minutes.
Betis remain defiant despite defeat
Rodrigo Hernandez, scorer of Barcelona’s second goal, welcomed the result at what he called one of the league’s hardest venues but accepted that the visitors had allowed Betis too many openings. He praised Yamal’s extraordinary ability while stressing the teenager’s broader work for the side.
Pellegrini had made eight changes from Betis’ 3-2 Champions League win over Porto, leaving players including Isco, Antony and Marc Bartra among the substitutes. Before kick-off, he said the depth and level of his squad made rotation straightforward after seven years of work on the club’s playing identity.
Barcelona had made four changes from their European trip to Galatasaray, bringing in Kounde, Xavi Espart, Adeyemi and Jesus. Andreas Christensen and Roony Bardghji remained their only injured first-team absentees, while Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong had returned to the matchday group following injury lay-offs. Flick said De Jong, back after knee trouble sustained at the World Cup and treated without surgery, would be managed carefully as he built up his minutes.
The result gives Barcelona a landmark domestic start before an intense eight-day stretch: Paris Saint-Germain await in Europe, followed next Sunday by the Clásico against Real Madrid. Betis, missing Junior Firpo and Aitor Ruibal through injury and without Iker Losada or Ivan Corralejo in the squad, showed enough for long spells to confirm why La Cartuja had expected a difficult night for the leaders.
