New Loan arrivals Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo scored their first goals for Barcelona in an impressive 5-0 victory over Real Betis on Saturday in La Liga. Barcelona's five-goal display was started by Felix, who netted the opener, with goals from Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, and Raphinha and Cancelo making the scoreline possible.
Xavi handed Joao Felix and Cancelo their first starts for the club and they quickly impressed the home fans and their coach. Betis lined up with a back four composed only of former Barcelona players, and played with attacking intent, unlike many other teams who will visit the temporary home, the Olympic Stadium. Barcelona got the lead after 25 minutes when Oriol Romeu fed a brilliant ball to Felix. The on-loan Atletico forward controlled the ball and finished to claim his first goal for Barcelona.
"I'm very happy to be starting again, the feelings are very good — it's easy to play in this team," Felix said. "I am happy, the change has done me good, me and my family, I am very happy here," he added.
Lewandowski doubled Barcelona's lead when Andreas Christensen's through pass found him and he slotted it home, although the goal was crafted by Felix. His clever dummy allowed the ball to find the striker.
"We're talking about two players there are absolutely no doubts about in terms of individual quality," Xavi told reporters after the match. "The two bring something different that improves the team. Individual quality is what makes the difference."
Ferran Torres started ahead of teen Lamine Yamal, and netted the third, with a low curved free-kick around the wall. This was the first time, Barcelona scored a free-kick since Lionel Messi's strike in May 2021.
The winger has nicknamed himself a "shark" since the summer after working on mental aspects of the game and finding his best level of fitness.
"I didn't know we hadn't scored a free-kick since Messi," said Torres. "I have a lot of confidence, I am working on it and I'll keep doing that," he added.
Raphinha replaced Torres and added the fourth just moments after his way in. Joao Cancelo then added the fifth to put the cherry on top of an excellent display. He shattered down Barcelona left-back Juan Miranda with a fake shot and drove home his first Barcelona goal.
