La Liga 2025-26 — Torres hat-trick sees Barcelona beat Real Betis 5-3

Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick, Lamine Yamal converted a penalty and Roony Bardghji starred in a rare start as Barcelona roared back to beat Real Betis 5-3 in La Liga on Saturday.

Barcelona’s defeat to fifth-placed Betis in Seville extended their lead to four points over Real Madrid before they host Celta Vigo on Sunday.

Torres has gone from being a bench player to Hansi Flick’s most used striker. The Spanish forward has more starts than Robert Lewandowski, who at the age of 37 has seen his playing time reduced.

Torres leads Barcelona’s scoring list with thirteen goals, eleven of which came in La Liga. Only Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé has scored more goals in the domestic league with sixteen goals.

Bardghji impressed in his third start since the 20-year-old Swedish winger joined Barcelona from Copenhagen this summer. His dribbling was electric and he provided a cross for Torres to score the go-ahead goal before making it 3-1 with a powerful strike from just inside the penalty area.

Lewandowski and Raphinha never left the bench at Barcelona. That will leave both rested before Barcelona host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Anthony put Betis ahead in the sixth minute at the Benito Villamarin Stadium. But Barcelona hit back straight away through Torres.

Torres slipped behind the defensive line and tapped in a square pass from Jules Koundé.

Torres scored again two minutes later when he acrobatically smashed Bardghji’s cross between the legs of goalkeeper Álvaro Vallés. After Bardghji scored in the 31st to make it 3-1, Torres made it a treble in the 40th when his shot from outside the area deflected a defender and wrong-footed Vallés.

The game featured a tactical novelty for Barcelona: Yamal played most of the match in an internal, creative role in midfield rather than on the right wing.

Yamal stayed in sync with his teammates and took part in the passing move that led to Torres’ first goal. He converted the penalty in the 59th for Barcelona’s fifth after Marcus Rashford’s shot struck Marc Bartra’s raised arm.

Betis eased the pain with late goals from Diego Llorente and Cucho Hernández’s penalty after Koundé fouled Abde in the penalty area.

Rashford had a golden opportunity to make it six for Barcelona on a solo break, but he dragged his shot wide with only Vallés to beat.

Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis were flying high in the match, having beaten fierce city rivals Sevilla in the previous round and were unbeaten in a total of eight games. Betis will be overtaken by Espanyol on Sunday when they draw with Rayo Vallecano.

Fermín López returned as a second-half substitute after the Barcelona midfielder missed two games with a leg injury.

Tajon Buchanan and Georges Mikautadze scored to help Villarreal beat Getafe 2–0 and stay in third place, one point behind Madrid.

Alaves upset Real Sociedad 1-0 in a Basque Country regional derby.

Published on December 7, 2025