{"id":13973,"date":"2026-08-04T07:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T06:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=13973"},"modified":"2026-08-06T11:28:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T10:28:30","slug":"best-to-beat-betis-boys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=13973","title":{"rendered":"Best to Beat Betis, Boys!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Real Betis Balompi\u00e9 S.A.D. is our next preseason opponent and for a reason that I have so far been unable to discover, we are playing them in Dublin. Could it have been arranged so that Andrew can just wander down the road (perhaps, via a familiar hostelry or two) to see his favourite team?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betis, founded by students from the local polytechnic in 1907, hails from Seville and has a somewhat chequered history. Hence its motto: \u00a1Viva el Betis masque perda!<\/em> (Long live Betis even when they lose!) The club\u2019s name derives from Baetis<\/em>, the Roman name for the region and for the Guadalquiver River that flows through Seville. The prefix \u2018Real\u2019 was added in 1914 following patronage from Alfonso XIII after a merger between Betis and Seville Balompi\u00e9. The team initially played in blue shirts and white shorts but changed to green and white striped shirts matching the Andalusian flag, when the club captain, while studying in Scotland, obtained the material that Celtic used for their shirts but reorientated it to produce stripes rather than hoops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betis won their only La Liga<\/em> title in 1935 (under an Irish coach), three years after becoming the first Andalusian team to play in La Liga<\/em> after they had won their first Segunda Divisi\u00f2n<\/em> title in 1932. When La Liga<\/em> resumed after the Spanish Civil War in 1939-40, the club was promptly relegated. Despite one season back in La Liga<\/em>, decline continued and Betis was relegated to the Tercera Divisi\u00f2n<\/em> where it languished for a decade. Many fans see this period as key to the \u2018soul\u2019 of the club during which it became renowned for filling its stadium and for its huge away support, known as the \u201cGreen March\u2019. Betis returned to the Segunda Divisi\u00f2n <\/em>in 1954 and to La Liga<\/em> in 1958-59 peaking in third place in 1964, but subsequently became a \u2018yo-yo club\u2019 until consolidating a La Liga<\/em> place in 1974-75 and winning the Copa del Rey<\/em> against Athletic Bilbao, 8-7, in 1977, after a 21 penalty shoot-out! The club won a second Copa del Rey<\/em> in 2005, beating Osasuna 2-1 in extra time and finishing fourth in La Liga<\/em> to become the first Andalusian club to qualify for the Champions League. However, Betis’ participation was unspectacular, apart from a 1-0 home win over Chelsea. The club finished third in its group and only reached the round of 16 in its subsequent participation in the UEFA Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the late noughties off-field financial issues rocked Betis but the teens saw the club achieve European qualification several times and under Manuel Pellegrini, who remains their coach, Betis won its third Copa del Rey<\/em><\/em> in 2021 beating Valencia 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, its first trophy in 17 years. Pellegrini initiated a successful period for Betis, qualifying for the Europa League from its La Liga<\/em> position for three consecutive seasons then qualifying for the Conference League and reaching the final only to lose to Chelsea 1-0. Betis qualified for this season\u2019s Champions League for the second time in its history through last season’s fifth place finish in La Liga<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, we can expect a sterner test from Betis whose 5th place last season with 60 points and a goal difference of +11 eclipses Girona\u2019s 19th place finish with 41 points and -16 goal difference. A further benchmark, however, is the team that finished above Betis in fourth place with 69 points and a goal difference of +18 – Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, whom we tonked in the League Phase of last season’s Champions League and knocked out in the Semi-Final. Of course, neither of those clubs was within touching distance of La Liga<\/em> champions Barcelona on 94 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betis\u2019 current first team squad includes several familiar faces. We can expect to see much loved alumnus Hector Beller\u00edn play against Arsenal for the first time; now 31, he is listed as \u2018third captain\u2019. Two of the defenders had spells at Leeds United: centre back Diego Llorente, and left back Junior Firpo. Betis also has the much despised, Lo Celso, once of the Marshdwellers, and the tricky, ex-Hammer Pablo Fornals in midfield. Up front Betis has the even more despised Antony, once of Manure. You will probably also recognise Isco who spent 9 years in and around Real Madrid\u2019s first team. This summer, Betis has added defensive midfielder Facundo Bernal from Fluminese for 10.5m Euros, left back Fran Garcia from Real Madrid for 4m Euros and goalkeeper Diego Conde on loan from Villareal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Betis starting line up is fairly predictable. Valles remains first choice goalkeeper ahead of newly arrived loanee Conde. The likely back four will comprise Beller\u00ecn, whose overlapping threat remains a key strategy; centre back Llorente organises the back line; Natan, a physical, progressive stopper logged most starts last term; Garcia will replace the departed Rodriguez at left wing back; Bartra and Gomez provide defensive depth. Roca is first choice holding midfielder and the defensive anchor when fullbacks push forward; marquee signing Bernal will join Roca in a double-pivot; Isco, now 34, is the creative heart of the team with licence to roam; Lo Cesco and Fornals are alternatives in midfield providing energy centrally or out wide. Up front, the hapless Antony will hug the right touchline; Cucho Hernand\u00e9z, last season\u2019s top scorer with 11 goals, provides the central attacking threat; speed-merchant Abde Essalzouli scored 10 league goals last season and offers raw pace and directness cutting in from the left. Losada and Petit offer striking depth and youthful energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betis play a pragmatic, possession-based style under Pellegrini, typically adopting a 4-2-3-1 formation with a focus on wide overloads using wingers and full-backs, often rapidly switching play to the opposite wing when the opposition has been drawn to one side. Out of possession, they adopt a compact mid-block before initiating high pressure and falling back into a 4-4-1-1 if that pressure is bypassed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel Arteta gave playing time to 24 of his 27-man squad in Girona, so it\u2019s difficult to predict his starting eleven in Dublin. I thought I saw Martinelli among the players at the end of that game despite not being in the match day squad so he too may get minutes against Betis. However, I expect the starting eleven to be a similar to his choice for the Girona game, I.e:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White Mosquera Hincapi\u00e9 Calafiori<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MLS Havertz Nwaneri<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dowman Gy\u00f6keres Tzolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do suspect Meslier may get the starting gloves ahead of Kepa, given how he excelled in his 30 minutes on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the result doesn\u2019t matter – this is all about developing match fitness, but it would be nice to maintain our winning momentum. How about 3-1 to the good guys?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real Betis Balompi\u00e9 S.A.D. is our next preseason opponent and for a reason that I have so far been unable to discover, we are playing them in Dublin. Could it have been arranged so that Andrew can just wander down the road (perhaps, via a familiar hostelry or two) to see his favourite team? Betis, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13973"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13973"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14004,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13973\/revisions\/14004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}