On a day of dodgy penalties, Barcelona took advantage of a hugely contentious spot-kick award to set up a comfortable victory over luckless Real Betis, which saw them break Real Madrid’s record of 178 goals in a calendar year.
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Just hours after Madrid had been handed two questionable spotkicks in their win against Real Sociedad, Barca were given a helping hand of their own by official Inaki Bikandi, who pointed to the spot just before the half-hour mark after keeper Antonio Adan raced out to punch clear Sergio Busquets’ cross.
Adan then collided with Lionel Messi, but he clearly made clean contact with the ball first and the crash into the Barca player was entirely accidental – demonstrated by the fact that Barca players didn’t even appeal for a foul.
Barcelona end 2015 with 5 trophies, 180 goals and 51 wins!!! Will they improve on that in 2016?! pic.twitter.com/IgIpPFQDK9
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 30, 2015
The drama – and Barca’s luck – hadn’t finished there. Neymar slipped as he took the penalty and his shot crashed against the bar, only for Betis defender Heiko Westermann to inadvertently volley the ball home as he attempted to prevent Ivan Rakitic from scoring.
A few minutes later, the game took another decisive turn in Barca’s favour through a more conventional route, with Messi advancing through the middle and finding Neymar, whose return pass gave the Argentine the simple task of converting from close range.
To further compound Betis’s ill-fortune the visitors lost both starting central defenders, Westermann and Bruno Gonzalez, through injury before the interval was reached.
The game was effectively over and the main point of interest became whether Barca would score again to surpass Madrid’s record.
Luis Suarez nearly did so after racing clear down the right, but he could only find the side-netting after rounding Adan. But he did break the record straight after halftime, receiving a cute pass from Busquets and coolly rolling a left-footed strike inside the near post.
It then became less a competitive game and more a case of shooting practice for Barca, with Neymar hitting the post when he should have scored and Messi being denied by an outstanding one-handed save from Adan, who then tipped a fierce curling free-kick onto the crossbar.
Dani Alves also hit the bar with a delicate chip and Suarez was denied by Adan, before incredibly Messi hit the bar yet again with another set-piece.
Barca’s fourth goal finally arrived late on, when a beautiful back-heel from Neymar allowed Suarez to slot home his second from close range.
