Barcelona beaten as Betis lengthens gap
Xavi had his first taste of defeat as Barcelona boss with Juanmi securing Real Betis a famous 1-0 victory at Camp Nou on Sunday (AEDT).
Barca defeated Espanyol and Villarreal in its first two LaLiga matches under Xavi, which came either side of a goalless draw at home to Benfica in the UEFA Champions League.
But it lacked a serious attacking threat against Betis and was punished on the break by Juanmi with 11 minutes remaining.
Ez Abde missed a glorious chance to salvage a point for the Blaugrana, which remains adrift of the leading pack in LaLiga, particularly rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Philippe Coutinho sent a tame effort from Jordi Alba's cross towards the near post in the 11th minute and Rui Silva held it at the second attempt.
Gavi had to go off after the ball was kicked against his head by Hector Bellerin, meaning his status for the crunch UEFA Champions League clash with Bayern Munich in midweek could now be in doubt.
After Juanmi had a goal disallowed for a narrow offside decision, Xavi sent Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele on with Barca toiling.
Dembele was lively but could not find the target and Betis put them to the sword with a swift break that finished with Juanmi sliding home a pass from former Barca winger Cristian Tello.
Barca pushed for a winner but Ez Abde blazed their best opportunity over from eight yards with 10 minutes remaining.
Ronald Araujo was deemed to have fouled Andres Guardado despite appealing for a stoppage-time penalty, leaving Xavi to cope with the bitter taste of a first defeat.
