Marc Bartra injured at Riazor

Real Betis Balompié

The incident that forced him off happened very soon. Bartra was trying to stop Bil Nsongo near the touchline by the area when it looked like he took a blow and, practically immediately, he went over to the bench to request the substitution. Only 12 minutes of the match at Riazor had been played.

The injury is another setback for Manuel Pellegrini in central defence. Diego Llorente remains unavailable after fracturing the bones in his nose against Real Madrid a little over two weeks ago and then suffering further discomfort that has prevented him from training normally with the group.

Against Getafe, the Betis coach had given Bartra a rest and started with Natan and Valentín Gómez, two left-footed centre-backs. That same pairing had to be used earlier than expected against Deportivo after the Catalan defender was forced off.

Bartra came close to scoring before getting injured

Interestingly, Bartra had been very close to scoring shortly before leaving the pitch. From a free kick taken by Fornals from the right, Marc Roca won the ball at the far post and played it back into a shooting area.

The centre-back then improvised an impressive bicycle kick that forced Leo Román to make a great save to prevent the opening goal of the match. Shortly afterwards came the incident that ended with Bartra out of the game. We will have to wait to find out the exact extent of his physical problem.