January 13, (THEWILL) – Barcelona secured a place in the Supercopa de Espana final after defeating Real Betis in a nail-biting penalty shootout. The match ended in a 2-2 draw after extra time, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen saving two penalties to secure the win for the Catalan club.
In the early stages of the match, Barcelona dominated possession and had a goal disallowed after a VAR check ruled Raphinha to be offside in the build-up. However, they would break the deadlock in the 40th minute through Robert Lewandowski. Real Betis continued to press forward and almost equalized just before halftime, with ter Stegen making a great save to keep the score at 1-0.
The second half saw both teams struggle to score, with neither team looking capable of getting the second goal of the game until the final 15 minutes. In the 77th minute, Nabil Fekir scored for Real Betis to make it 1-1. Three minutes later, Barcelona thought they had regained the lead through a goal from Lewandowski, but it was disallowed due to offside.
Extra time saw both teams score spectacular goals, with substitute Ansu Fati volleying a deflected cross into the bottom right corner for Barcelona and Loren Moron backheeling past ter-Stegen for Real Betis to make it 2-2.
In the penalty shootout, Barcelona’s Pedri converted the winning penalty to secure their spot in the final where they are billed to relive the battle for La Liga supremacy against arch rivals Real Madrid.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
