The green and white team suffered a disappointing defeat against Legia Warszawa in their debut in the Conference League.
Real Betis started their adventure in the Conference League on the wrong side, losing 1-0 at Legia Warszawa in the first match of this group stage, where the Spanish team never looked the best and was dominated by the rhythm of the Polish team.
It was Betis’ debut in this third international event, in which the Andalusian club secretly placed many hopes of reaching the next stages; however, the long road to proving his goals started badly in Warsaw against a historical figure in Polish football.
The Spanish team arrived in the Polish capital with one thing in mind for the upcoming Seville derby next Sunday at the Sevilla Stadium, which prompted their coach, Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, to make as many as nine changes to the lineup compared to the team that won against Espanyol (1-0). last Sunday.
Legia, in turn, also had some attention focused on the league games after a draw with Górnik and two defeats against Pogoń Szczecin and Raków Częstochowa, which left them in seventh place in the table.
The already questioned coach, Portuguese Gonçalo Feio, could not count on his midfielder Jürgen Elitim due to a meniscus injury; Despite this, he played with a midfielder recently acquired from Manchester United, a Pole with English roots, Maximilian Oyedele.
Legia came out with a bang, winning almost all the duels to keep the ball close to the goal defended by Adrián San Miguel, who made his debut in this match in his second stay at Betis after his time spent at Liverpool.
Pellegrini’s men needed almost fifteen minutes to get close to the opponent’s goal, with Sergi Altimira’s shot posing no real threat to Polish goalkeeper Kacper Tobiasz. However, it was French stopper Steve Kapuadi who, after a well-prepared corner kick, scored with a header to make it 1-0 midway through the first half.
The guests only pressed in the last stage of the match with no clear chance of equalizing; therefore, the Chilean coach had to make many adjustments during the break in order to see a different picture of the game in the second half, which he did thanks to Aitor Ruibal’s shot just two minutes after the restart, which was narrowly off target.
Pellegrini introduced three attacking players fifteen minutes after the start of the second half, including Congolese Cédric Bakambu, Moroccan Eza Abde and young Dani Ruiz, hoping to turn the tide. However, this also allowed Legia’s Gonçalo Feio to threaten with a counterattack, so much so that Adrián prevented the score from making it 2-0 in the 82nd minute by brilliantly defending a shot by Rafał Augustyniak, who came on during this period.
Despite this missed chance by the hosts, Betis failed to do more to equalize, resulting in a bitter return to Sevilla, where they now focus on the Sánchez-Pizjuán derby next Sunday.
