Barcelona are on course to return to the top of La Liga having taken a 2-0 lead into the halfway stage of their match against Real Betis at Camp Nou this evening.

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It was the hosts who enjoyed the majority of the ball in the opening exchanges, but the first clear chance of the game went the way of Betis as Dani Ceballos stole possession from Dani Alves before bearing down on goal, only for Alves to recover and make a fine last-ditch challenge.

Barca responded with a chance of their own immediately afterwards as Luis Suarez picked out Neymar in the box, but the Brazilian steered his header straight at Adan.

Neymar missed another glorious chance to break the deadlock just before the half-hour mark when Barcelona were awarded a penalty for Adan clattering into Lionel Messi as he came to deal with a cross.

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Neymar's spot kick smashed against the bar, but his blushes were spared on the rebound as a mixture of Ivan Rakitic and Heiko Westermann poked the ball over the line.

Messi then marked his 500th Barcelona appearance with a goal of his own to put the hosts in command, combining with Neymar before applying a simple finish to the Brazilian's cutback.

Things began to unravel for the visitors, with manager Pepe Mel being sent to the stands, and they could have fallen even further behind moments later when Suarez was played clean through on goal before rounding the keeper, but he couldn't squeeze the ball in from a tight angle.

That proved to be the final chance of the first half as Barcelona went in with a comfortable lead to stay on track for top spot.