MADRID, 8 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Betis will try this Wednesday (6:45 p.m.) to ally themselves with their Benito Villamarín fans and achieve a good result in the first leg of the 2021-2022 Europa League round of 16 against the German Eintracht Frankfurt, which will also help them recover sensations a bit lost in the last few days.
With hardly any time to rest from the latest events, the Verdiblanco team faces the challenge of getting into the top eight in the continental tournament and must do so against an always dangerous rival from the Bundesliga, undefeated so far and more ‘rested’ for not having to go through the previous ‘playoff’ and that not too long ago flirted with the final of this competition.
Manuel Pellegrini’s team currently seems to be paying for the harshness of the calendar and having to compete for ambitious goals. Against Eintracht they will play their seventeenth match of this year 2022, double the number of officials that the German team has played in the same period, and with the need to return to having the joy that it offered not too long ago, especially at an offensive level.
Betis experienced a high-level start last February where they chained four consecutive victories, three away, and eleven goals scored, but from then on they began to get stuck somewhat in a few days of great tension due to the league derby against Sevilla or the future in the Europa League and, mainly, in the Copa del Rey.
The result was bittersweet since the defeats against his neighbor and last Sunday against Atlético de Madrid, which also cost him to get out of the Champions League access positions, were joined by the suffered draws at home against Zenit and the Rayo Vallecano, offset by the joy of the classifications.
Now, the Betis must try to get as much as possible out of their heads the appointment of April 23 at the La Cartuja Stadium, the one that is closest to winning a title, so as not to complicate their future in Europe, a mission that also arouses hope between the squad and the fans, and that it is one more way to gain access to the next Champions League.
The Andalusian team faces this event in search of winning again in its stadium, where it has not been able to do so in the last three games, and it will surely do so with the rotations that Pellegrini has been betting on, more after the physical demand that it has dragged these days and to counteract the traditional physical strength of German football.
For the time being, the Chilean coach will continue without being able to count on his two starting lateral theorists, Héctor Bellerín and Alex Moreno, although he had the good news of the entry into the list of Juan Miranda, who could be the left-back, and, above all, of Sergio Canales, who entered the list, but whose presence is doubtful. Borja Iglesias or Willian José will fight to be the ‘9’, while Guido Rodríguez and Juanmi, substitutes in the last duel, are emerging as starters, especially the Argentine midfielder.
Opposite, an Eintracht, with whom they will live the only tie of this round that measures two teams from the Europa League. The German team avoided playing the ‘playoff’ a few weeks ago after finishing first in their group ahead of the Greek Olympiacos and without losing a game.
The team from Frankfurt, ranked tenth in the Bundesliga and UEFA Cup winners in 1980, was very solid with three wins and three draws, and now they dream of repeating their great performance of the 2018-2019 season. Then, supported by the goals of Luka Jovic, he brushed the final, dropped by Chelsea in the penalty shootout.
Coach Oliver Glasner will have the important loss of the Portuguese Gonçalo Paciencia, suspended, while he recovers defender Danny da Costa and midfielder Sebastian Rode. In a team without big stars, well-known names stand out, such as the German goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, formerly of PSG, or the Colombian striker Rafael Santos Borré, formerly of Atlético and Villarreal.