FC Barcelona cemented second spot on the LaLiga standings thanks to Jordi Alba's late winner against Real Betis on Saturday night.
LaLiga
Result: Real Betis 1-2 Barcelona
Date: 07 May 2022
Venue: Benito Villamarín Stadium
Neto got a rare chance between the sticks as Marc-Andre ter Stegen missed out through illness, while Eric Garcia and Ousmane Dembele started ahead of Gerad Pique and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Before the encounter got underway, the Catalan giants decided to give Betis a guard of honour after their Copa del Rey triumph last month.
After a slow start, Betis goalkeeper Claudio Bravo came on to replace the injured Rui Silva on 18 minutes and he was called into action minutes later to keep out Ronald Araujo's powerful header.
The hosts went even closer at the other end in the 29th minute as Sergio Canales collected a pass from Guardado before unleashing a strike that crashed against the upright.
Xavi Hernandez's side continued to dominate as the first half went on, but they were unable to carve out another chance while Betis were content with the scoreline.
Betis came alive in the second half and went close to pulling ahead on 64 minutes when Moreno found Jaunmi, who saw his volley brilliantly kept out by Neto.
Xavi threw on Ansu Fati and Adama Traore with 15 minutes to play and the decision paid off a minute later when the former fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box after being set up by Jordi Alba.
The joy was short-lived though as Betis pulled level as former Barcelona defender Marc Bartra nodded home a free-kick from Nabil Fekir in the 79th minute.
With the game seemingly headed for a draw, Alba popped with the winning goal in the 94th minute with a powerful volley after meeting a cross from Dani Alves.
Click through the gallery below to see the best-paid players in LaLiga this season:
