FC Barcelona: Real Betis a Dress Rehearsal for Real Madrid?

FC Barcelona faced Real Betis at Camp Nou and was able to win the match. La Blaugrana advanced in the 2011-12 La Liga standings as well.

While La Blaugrana should be congratulated for their victory, it almost never happened. Xavi and Lionel Messi did a superb job with their goals within the early minutes of the match.

After Messi scored, La Blaugrana went to sleep during the match. The result was that Castro and Santa Cruz scored for Real Betis while goalkeeper Victor Valdes appeared surprised.

The match was almost a disaster for Barca until Alexis Sanchez and Messi saved the day with two goals. Messi was able to score on the basis of a penalty.

I am thinking to myself, is the match against Real Betis a dress rehearsal for the upcoming Real Madrid match? The answer is no since the match should be a wake-up call to initiate necessary changes.

The first change should involve the goalkeeper. Jose Manuel Pinto should replace Valdes as the goalkeeper.

Pinto is more flexible and alert than Valdes and does not concede goals easily. The next change involves tactics.

La Blaugrana should continue to use their 4-3-3 positioning and maybe an alternate position. The purpose is to fortify the defenses and not allow any port of entry for the opponent.

FC Barcelona has a good chance of winning if they at least make a start on these changes. Whether they do remains a question mark.