With the carrot of a Clasico final in the Spanish Super Cup - despite the competition generally being seen as Spain’s equivalent of the Charity Shield - there was certainly motivation for Barca to make light work of a talented Betis side.
The opening 25 minutes or so saw total blaugrana dominance but with no goals to show for their endeavours.
In fact, were it not for the excellence of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, it might well have been Real Betis that took the lead.
It can’t be lost on anyone that Barca’s immaculate defensive record this season is as much to do with the German as it is the back three or four in front of him.