It was a tight contest at Benito Villamarin but the Catalan giants were resilient and managed to walk away with all three points in the bag.
FC Barcelona scraped past Real Betis with a 3-2 result to overtake Real Madrid and jump to second in the La Liga standings.
It appeared as if Barcelona were going to have to be content with just a point as the scoreline was level at 2-2 until very late in the game.
Francisco Trincao was determined not to let that happen as he, after recovering the ball at the edge of the box, sent an exquisite strike that curled into the top-left corner at the 87th minute.
It was the Portuguese forward’s first goal in the Catalan colors – and the timing and the manner of his goal were both perfect.
Lionel Messi had found the leveler for his side, coming off the bench at minute 57 and finding the net only two minutes later to cancel out Borja Iglesias’ first-half effort.
Victor Ruiz had given Barca the lead as he slipped the ball into his own net but he also then redeemed himself with a powerful header from a set-piece to level things up before Trincao’s late winner.
Player Ratings
Barcelona: Ter Stegen – 5, Mingueza – 5, Araujo – N/A, Lenglet – 6, Alba – 6, Busquets – 4, Pjanic – 4, Puig – 6, Dembele – 8, Braithwaite – 4, Griezmann – 7, De Jong – 5, Messi – 9, Trincao – 9, Pedri – 6, Umtiti – N/A
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