Xavi Hernandez suffers first defeat as Barcelona manager as Juanmi grabs late winner for Real Betis

Juanmi scored a breakaway winner for Real Betis as Barcelona suffered their first defeat under Xavi Hernandez as manager.

Barca had claimed league wins over Espanyol and Villarreal following the appointment of the former midfielder, but the Catalans were made to pay for a toothless performance in this instance.

A cagey first half saw Philippe Coutinho come closest to opening the scoring with the Brazilian playmaker striking the base of the post following good work by Jordi Alba down the left wing.

Juanmi appeared to have given Real Betis the lead six minutes into the second half when he diverted a cross into the back of the net, but the flag was raised against the forward.

However, Juanmi wasn’t to be denied for a second time as he finished off a counter-attacking move that involved Sergio Canales and Cristian Tello as Barcelona got caught high up the pitch.

Abde Ezzalzouli was presented with a golden opportunity to equalise immediately only for the youngster to send his shot over the target after being set up by substitute Ousmane Dembele.

The defeat sees Barcelona remain in seventh place in the La Liga table, 13 points behind pace-setters and rivals Real Madrid, while Real Betis are now up to third.

In the four matches they have played under Xavi, Barcelona have now failed to find the back of the net twice. It’s certainly true that the former midfielder has given the Catalans more shape and structure since his return to the club as manager, but opposition teams are finding it easy to hold them at arm’s length. That’s what Real Betis did as they absorbed pressure and hit out on the break.

Barcelona were given a warning when Juanmi put the ball in the back of the net six minutes into the second half only for the flag to be raised, but they didn’t heed that warning. Juanmi had to wait for his opportunities as Barca dominated possession, but he made the most of them when they came. The 28-year-old is in exceptional form at the moment and is spearheading Real Betis’ challenge to finish in the top four places in La Liga.

Barcelona - Ter Stegen 4, Dest 5, Lenglet 4, Araujo 4, Alba 6, Gavi 3, Busquets 5, Nico 4, Abde 4, Depay 4, Coutinho 6. Subs - L. de jong 3, F. de Jong 4, Dembele 7, Pique 4, Puig 5.

Real Betis - Silva 6, Bellerin 6, Bartra 7, Victor Ruiz 6, Alex Moreno 6, Guido Rodriguez 5, Guardado 5, Ruibal 6, Canales 7, Juanmi 8, Jose 6. Subs - Tello 7, Carvalho 5, Iglesias 4.

10’ Off the post! Coutinho flicked an Alba cross to the near post off the woodwork! It must be said that the Brazilian has looked the most likely to find the back of the net for Barca so far!

52’ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... NO! Juanmi thinks he's given Real Betis the lead at the Camp Nou, but the flag is up! He did so well to divert a cross into the back of the net!

79’ GOAL! Barcelona 0-1 Real Betis: Juanmi has the ball in the back of the net and this one will count! Barcelona got caught on the break and Real Betis made the most of it with the ball rolled to Juanmi inside the box and the forward made no mistake with his cool finish past Ter Stegen!

80’ How did he miss?! What a chance for Barcelona to hit back immediately with Dembele playing an excellent low cross into the box, but Abde shoots over when he should have scored!

Jordi Alba became only the 15th player to reach 400 competitive appearances for Barcelona (in all competitions).

Juanmi is now the top Spanish scorer in any of Europe’s top five leagues this season (11 goals in total, nine in La Liga).