Xavi Hernandez suffered his first loss as the Barcelona head coach, his team beaten by Real Betis by a goal to nil. In Bundesliga, meanwhile, Bayern Munich edged a derby filled with controversial moments against Borussia Dortmund, 3-2.
Manuel Pellegrini’s Real Betis handed Xavi his first loss as the Barcelona manager. The high point of the game for the Blaugrana came before the ball was even kicked off, as Pedri and Alexia Putellas presented their awards – which they won at the Ballon d’Or ceremony – to a packed Camp Nou.
Philippe Coutinho nearly gave the home support another reason to cheer about in the 11th minute, as his clever flick at the near post almost caught Rui Silva off guard.
Ousmane Dembele came off the bench for Barcelona and looked lively. The Frenchman had three attempts at goal in the second half, in the space of 17 minutes, but all three landed on the wrong side of the post. To make matters worse, Betis went ahead and scored the winner in the 79th minute.
Sergio Canales, released down the right, cut inside and squared the ball to ex-Barca player Christian Tello, who, in turn, played in Juanmi for the finish with his first touch. Betis held on to their narrow lead to hand Barcelona their fourth defeat of the season, which leaves them seventh in the table, 16 points behind leaders – and rivals – Real Madrid.
In Germany, league leaders Bayern Munich met second-placed Borussia Dortmund for the latest iteration of Der Klassiker. Bayern have dominated the derby in recent years, but the Bavarians were behind after just five minutes, with Julian Brandt netting the opener for the home side. However, the visitors were behind for just four minutes, and parity was restored through Robert Lewandowski’s well-taken finish.
The Bavarians took the lead in the 41st minute as Kingsley Coman took advantage of some poor defending from Dortmund and fired in his shot through the narrowest window of opportunity. But, Dortmund were level again three minutes after the restart, after Erling Haaland curled the ball around Manuel Neuer from the left side of the box – from a standstill.
Controversy ensued later in the game as the referee first waved Dortmund’s penalty appeals, then awarded one to Bayern at the other hand for a Mats Hummels handball. Lewandowski stepped up to score his 16th goal of the league campaign and give Bayern the win.
