Marc-Andre Ter Stegen heroically bailed Barcelona out on Thursday night, when he spectacularly saved Juanmi and William Carvalho’s less-than-perfect spot kicks, making certain a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Betis after the 2 groups had tied 2-2 on the finish of an exciting Spanish Super Cup semifinal match in Saudi Arabia.
Barca arrange a dream showpiece conflict on Sunday with Real Madrid, who had additionally overwhelmed Valencia on penalties earlier within the week.
The 30-year-old goalkeeper was Barcelona’s hero as he made a collection of excellent saves throughout a match earlier than blocking the efforts of Juanmi and Carvalho within the shootout.
“It was a beautiful match, one of those the fans show up to watch,” Ter Stegen instructed Movistar Plus.
“I’m very pleased with myself. I feel since final yr I’ve been going by way of an ideal second in my profession and in my life.
“It was a very difficult match mainly after the break because they dominated possession and made it really tough for us. They were superior in the midfield, had control of the match and we had to fight really hard to advance.”
Barcelona began effectively however as soon as Pedri’s Twenty third-minute objective was dominated out by the VAR for an offside within the build-up, they began to lose floor to Betis.
After two excellent reflex saves by Ter Stegen blocked Luiz Henrique and Rodri’s bullet-like photographs, Ousmane Dembele burst ahead in a fantastic particular person effort earlier than he handed the ball to Lewandowski, who beat goalkeeper Claudio Bravo from shut vary to attain the opener.
Betis got here again within the second half, urgent Barcelona up-front, and Fekir slotted in a low shot simply contained in the far publish within the 77th minute after being arrange by Luiz Henrique.
Lewandowski thought he had put Barca again in entrance with a strike three minutes later however VAR once more dominated out the objective for an offside within the build-up and the match went into additional time.
Ansu Fati put Barcelona again in entrance, ending off a surprising transfer from simply inside the world, however Betis fought again once more and equalized thanks to a different fantastic effort from Luiz Henrique, whose cross was brilliantly completed by substitute Loren Moron with a heel-kick from simply contained in the 6-yard field.
Barcelona didn’t put a foot mistaken within the shootout whereas Betis have been left ruing the penalty misses by Juanmi and Carvalho.
