Real Betis- The new Real

Common Name: Real Betis
Nickname: Beticos
Founded: 12th Spetember 1907
Location: Seville
La Liga Winners: 1934-1935
Copa Del Rey Winners: 1976-1977 & 2004-2005


Real Betis are known to be one of the biggest 'yoyo' clubs in the past era of Spanish Football. After winning the La Liga title under Irish manager, Patrick O'Connell by a point over Real Madrid, the Beticos only managed a finish of 7th place the following season after their poor financial status meant they couldn't afford to keep the club running they way they did in their La Liga winning year. The Civil War also played a big part in Real Betis' demise with the official La Liga competition not being held between the years of 1936-1939. When the La Liga did start up again in the 1939-1940 season, it was apparent just how Real Betis had struggled as just five years after becoming the top team in Spain, and two official seasons ago, the club were relegated from the top Spanish division to the Segunda.

The torment was not over for Real Betis and their fans as they were relegated to the Third Division in 1947 after more money problems were encountered. Seven years passed before the Beticos managed to return to the Segunda Division thanks to the support of their fans who would often turn out in huge numbers in the Third Division to support their local team. A return to La Liga in 1958-1959 and a league finish of 3rd in 1964 was thought make Betis a real contender for the title in the future years but the club struggled yet again and continuously followed relegation from La Liga to promotion from the Segunda till 1974 where they finally reached some consolidation.

In 1977 Real Betis triumphed in the Copa Del Rey by beating Athletic Bilbao 8-7 on penalties after the game finished 2-2 in normal time. In the European Cup Winners' Cup the following year, Betis managed to knock out AC Milan before falling to Dinamo Moscow in the quarter finals. The club then managed three, top six finishes in the La Liga with their last bit of success coming in 1986 where they were runners-up in the Spanish League Cup to Barcelona. Real Betis then began falling and rising through the top two divisions till 1992 where the fans raised large amounts of money to stop the club from yet another relegation.

Betis gained promoting from the Segunda in 1993-1994 and overachieved massively by finishing third and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. 2004 saw the biggest success in Betis' recent history with the club winning the Copa Del Rey against Osasuna and finishing 4th in the League which meant they would take part in the Champions League for the 2005-2006 season. Betis managed to get to the group stages but despite a 1-0 victory over Chelsea, the club were demoted to the UEFA Cup after finishing third in the Group only to be eliminated in the round of 16 to Steau Bucuresti.

A final relegation in the 2008-2009 season was the final straw for many Real Betis fans with them wanting the majority club owner to sell his share of the club, he didn't and Betis failed to gain promotion the following season as they spent a second consecutive season in the Segunda Division (Adelante). Promotion was secured in late 2010 as the Beticos started their first season in La Liga for 3 years during the 2011-2012 season where they managed to finish in a respectable 13th position after most pegged them as relegation candidates.

Real Betis started their unusually short pre-season routine consisting of only three matches, less than 20 days before the start of the 2012-2013 La Liga season. Betis travelled to Liga Adelante side, Guadalajara where they managed to muster up a solid 1-2 victory by dominating both possession and attempts on goal during the match. A persistent Damien Perquis brought Betis level in the second half as he tapped in from a corner after having his first two attempts saved well. The second goal of the game and winner came from Jorge Molina who had only been on the pitch for eight minutes after coming on for Dorlan Pabon. The second pre-seas fixture saw Real Betis travel to another Liga Adelante side, this time in the shape of Cordoba. Real Betis and Cordoba shared the opening attempts on goal but the Beticos had to wait till deep into the second half before they found their scoring boots with centre back, Paulao, heading home from a corner.

A slight change of team line-up was in order for the next game against non-league side, Coria. Things didn't start well for the non-league outfit as Dorlan Pabon scored a hattrick within the half hour mark as he ripped Coria apart thanks to two assists from Salva Sevilla and Ruben Castro. Pabon came off at half time to finish his cameo performance but Real Betis seemed to do just as well without him with three more goals coming in the remaining forty-five minutes. The first of which was a header by Pabon's replacement, Jorge Molina, who was giving the Real Betis manager, Pepe Mel something of a selection dilemma as he kept up his good performances off the bench. Youngster, Alex Martinez then scored the fifth which proved to be the best goal of the pre-season fixtures for the Beticos with a sensational driving effort curling inside the right post. The six goal rout was complete in the 67th minute with substitue Nacho thumping his first goal of pre-season into the next from 15 yards.

A positive pre-season for Real Betis leaves them in a good position for the start of the La Liga season in just 6 days time where the club will travel to Athletic Bilbao for the season opener. The first home game pits Betis against Rayo Vallecano, one of the major favourites for relegation to the Liga Adelante.

The Beticos were under immense pressure to make signings before the start of the La Liga season but with no money in the transfer kitty, it was clear that Real Betis may have to sell one or two of their main players if they were to do any dealings in the transfer window. With money needed to be brought in before any signings could even be thought of, Betis were keen to sell their talisman, Benat. PSG came in with many bids for the Basque midfielder but most were not offering the full price upfront and instead, most included the majority of the money in 48 and 36 month deals. Finally, Benat got his move to the French 'galacticos' for a fee of £12.5M as Betis could finally search for signings of their very own. As well as Benat moving away from Spain, other youngsters moved away from Betis with a larger number of youth players going out on loan; most noticeably, Alex Martinez, who joined Xerez in their bid to get promotion back to La Liga.

Real Betis used the money from the Benat deal to fix together 5 signings themselves with the first of them being Maxi Moralez who arrived from Atlanta for a fee of £5M. The Argentine, who's versatility will help Betis this season, was capped by Argentina back in 2011. Just two days later and Betis were back in the spotlight after capturing a signing from Real Madrid. David Mateos became the second signing of the season by Pepe Mel for a relatively cheap fee of £375K. Mateos decided it was enough after being with Real Madrid since 2002 with brief loan periods to AEK Athens and Real Zaragoza.

Just when many fans thought the money was running out, Betis pulled off another big transfer with newly relegated side, Villarreal. Hernan Perez came to Seville and signed his future to Betis with a transfer fee of £5M, the same as Moralez's deal, being agreed between both Real Betis and Villarreal. The Paraguayan midfielder joined Villarreal for £2.2M in 2009 so it's thought that the Liga Adelante team will be happy with the profit Hernan has made for them. To finish off their dealings, the Beticos finalised two deals with Barcelona for two players within the space of a day as Ilie and Carles Planas both joined up with the Betis squad just ten days before their opening La Liga fixture. Both Ilie and Planas signed 3 year deals but it is thought that they won't need that long to make an impact for their new team.

Real Betis had high hopes for the season opener against Athletic Bilbao with some of their new signings being in the starting line-up and on the subs bench. However, it was not a season opener to remember for Real Betis as Athletic Bilbao, and more specifically, Fernando Llorente taught them a masterclass in how to play football. The game was won and lost before half timer with three supreme goals from Fernando Llorente being the difference. Bilbao dominated the match stats at the end of the game with themselves having more possession, shots, shots on target and clear cut chances. Real Betis knew they needed to step up if the season wasn't going to be one long slog in the relegation battle.

Game of the Month


3-1
Piti 7'
Juan Carlos 68'
Jorge Molina 90'
Jorge Molina 90+3'


Fabricio
Ángel
Paulão
Damien Perquis
Nacho
José Cañas
Salva Sevilla
Hernán Pérez
Maxi Moralez
Juan Carlos
Rubén Castro
- - - - - - - - - - -
Casto
Antonio Amaya
Javi Chica
Ilie
Rubén Pérez
Jorge Molina x2
Dorlan Pabón

Real Betis hosted underdogs Rayo Vallecano on the back of their disappointing performance against Bilbao away from home. The game didn't start particularly well for the home side with Piti latching onto a long ball and firing past Fabricio in the Betis goal. Betis couldn't find an equalising goal as Maxi Moralez hit the bar before Rubén Castro fired wide. Rayo then pressed more and had a good spell of possession and chances but an excellent close range save by Fabricio to deny Piti his second proved to be the last action of the first half as the teams went into break with the scoreline in favour of Rayo Vallecano.

A revitalised Betis side came out for the second half and despite there being no changes from the home side at half time, they looked like a totally different team. Salva Sevilla had the first chance of the half but struck his piledriving effort over the bar before Hernan Perez almost scored on his debut thanks to intricate passing between himself and Sevilla. Betis had the leveller that they deserved with slick passing carving open the Vallecano defence saw Rubén Castro squaring a simple ball to Juan Carlos who couldn't miss the open net that presented itself. Beticos kept pressing and pressuring the Rayo defence and they earned a corner in the 90th minute via a terrific save by Rayo keeper, Rubén. From the resulting corner, Jorge Molina leapt the highest to head Betis into the lead and what was thought to be the last goal of the game, but rather than sitting back and waiting for the whistle, Betis countered as Juan Carlos returned the favour to Rubén Castro who tapped home, however, the goal was ruled out for offside. With Betis fans heading towards the exit with their team in full control and only a minute left on the clock, the home side attacked again as Jorge Molina found himself in the box free and was allowed the room to poke the ball home as Betis made it 3-1 and took three points away with them.

When are u posting images. There is far to much to read