For the first time since the genesis of Lionel Messi's career, Barcelona has lost a game in which the Argentine forward scored twice. The Catalans were stunned in their own backyard after an imposing performance by Real Betis saw them on the wrong end of a 4-3 scoreline.
The Blaugrana's day took off on a bad note after Junior Firpo struck in the 20th minute for the visitors. Fascinatingly, the goal meant that the host conceded a goal for the 10th successive La Liga fixture. In that respect, Ernesto Valverde's men have so far failed to keep a league clean sheet since their win over Real Valladolid in the second game of the season.
In retrospect, a worst run for Barcelona can only be traced to 1998 when Louis van Gaal was the head coach at Camp Nou. Under the Dutchman, the league's defending champions failed to record a clean sheet in 12 consecutive league games.
Barcelona's misery was compounded with Joaquin getting the second goal for Betis. However, Lionel Messi's 68th-minute goal from the penalty spot handed La Liga's defending champions the hope of possibly instigating a comeback.
The remontada never came to being with Giovani Lo Celso getting Betis' third of the day in the 71st-minute. Arturo Vidal then pulled one with 11 minutes left on the clock before Ivan Rakitic handicapped his team by receiving his second yellow in the game. Sergio Canales put the icing on Real Betis' cake by netting the fourth goal in the 83rd minute before Lionel Messi got his second of the day in added time.
Despite the defeat, Barcelona maintained its position atop La Liga with 24 points after 12 matches. Messi also updated his tally on the Pichichi charts by taking his goal counts in 10 matches to nine.
