Denilson marvels at Varela's goal

Betis put Barca to the sword with a comprehensive 3-0 victory, with a stunning goal from Joaquin eclipsed by Varela's incredible strike.

The latest to drool over it is team-mate Denilson who compared it to a goal scored by Ronaldo a few years ago when the Brazilian was at Barca, in a game against Compostela.

"I had never seen a right back score a goal like that," said Denilson.

He added: "A player from Tenerife (Bruno Marioni) did something similar last year.  I had already seen Romario and Ronaldo do things like that but they are other kind of players.

"I am very happy that Varela could score a goal like that because everyone is talking a lot about him and he deserves it, he is a great team-mate and a player that always makes a big effort for the team."

Denilson also said that he is impressed with the progress that Varela has made in the last few years, saying: "Varela has grown up very much in the last three of four years. 

"I think that it was good for him to play on loan for some time in Extremadura and then at Betis he kept on improving.

"He is physically very strong and has very good technical skills."

Varela picked up a long throw out by the goalkeeper before embarking on a run that took him past five defenders before he rocketed a left-foot drive into the top corner of the net.