Ferran Torres scored a hat trick, Lamine Yamal converted a penalty and Roony Bardghji made the most of a rare start as Barcelona came from behind to beat Real Betis 5-3 in La Liga in Seville.
The win over fifth-placed Betis increased Barcelona’s lead over Real Madrid to four points before Barcelona hosts Celta Vigo. Betis had entered the match after beating Sevilla and was unbeaten in eight games overall.
Torres has become Hansi Flick’s most-used striker, with more starts than Robert Lewandowski as the 37-year-old has seen his minutes reduced. Torres leads Barcelona with 13 goals in all competitions and has 11 in La Liga through 15 rounds, already bettering his league total of 10 last season. Only Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, with 16, has more in the campaign.
“I already knew that I could be a starter here in Barcelona and fight for this spot,” Torres said. “Now we have to go for more. The most important thing was our ability to respond to their early goal.”
It was the fourth career hat trick for Torres, who also scored three at Betis in a 4-2 Barcelona win last year.
Bardghji, the 20-year-old Sweden winger who joined from Copenhagen in the summer, impressed in his third start. He crossed for Torres to put Barcelona ahead, then made it 3-1 with a powerful finish from just inside the area.
Lewandowski and Raphinha stayed on the bench, leaving them rested for Barcelona’s Champions League match against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Flick also used Yamal mostly in an interior creative role instead of on the right wing. Yamal was involved in the passing move before Torres’ first goal and scored Barcelona’s fifth from the penalty spot in the 59th after Marcus Rashford’s shot hit Marc Bartra’s raised arm.
Flick said he asked Yamal if he was ready to play at the “10 spot,” and Yamal agreed. The coach praised his defensive work and said the performance gives Barcelona “one or two more options.”
Betis cut the margin late through Diego Llorente and a Cucho Hernández penalty after Koundé fouled Abde in the box. Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis can be overtaken by Espanyol if Espanyol gets a draw with Rayo Vallecano.
Fermín López returned as a second-half substitute after missing two games with a leg injury.
Elsewhere, Tajon Buchanan and Georges Mikautadze scored as Villarreal beat Getafe 2-0 to remain third, one point behind Madrid. Athletic Bilbao beat fourth-placed Atletico Madrid 1-0 before facing Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, with Alex Berenguer scoring from a Nico Williams pass with five minutes left. Alaves also beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in a regional derby.