Real Betis – Real Madrid

Betis won’t be able to put up any resistance against Mourinho’s team.

Two Spanish representatives in the Champions League will meet on a single field in Seville. Unfortunately, by last season's results this is a full tally of their opponents' trophies. If for Betis, despite all its high ambitions, such a league finish seems a success, then for Real Madrid the absence of titles and significant achievements in a single season can be considered a failure. Betis had not earned the right to compete in the continent's elite European competition for more than twenty years. At the same time, the Seville club shows serious continental ambitions, having reached the Conference League final in the season before last, and last season stopped at the Europa League quarterfinals. Indeed, the early rounds of La Liga underscored Betis's decent readiness. The other thing is that it wasn't all smooth sailing either. After pragmatic 1-0 wins over Real Sociedad and Valencia, the Sevillians were hammered by Levante 2-5. In the off-season Betis tried to strengthen the squad, signing Fran Garcia, Facundo Bernal, and Troy Parrott for a total of 30 million euros. Also as a free agent, Dani Ceballos moved from Real Madrid to Betis. The Seville club continues to play under the management of Manuel Pellegrini, who has coached here since 2020. In Real Madrid this summer there was a real revolution. The coaching staff led by Jose Mourinho returned to the club. The royal club kept the backbone of its squad in the form of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius, Federico Valverde, and Jude Bellingham, shed everything that no longer fit into it, and was reinforced by quality players. Among the top acquisitions were Marc Cucurella from Chelsea, Jan Diomande from Leipzig, Denzel Dumfries from Inter, Carlos Espi from Levante. As free agents, Ibrahima Konate from Liverpool and Bernardo Silva from Manchester City moved to Madrid. Despite public skepticism caused by Mourinho's recent failures at other clubs, the mood in the Real Madrid camp has changed a lot. Compared with last season, the locker room atmosphere improved and players' on-field coordination became more cohesive. Let's bet that Real Madrid will extend its winning streak at the start of the season to four.