Canales, the 'total' footballer

Sergio Canales set off all possible alarms in Heliópolis on November 17 when he was injured in the first minutes of the clash that the Spanish team would end up defeating Germany at La Cartuja. The fear was justified. His weight in Manuel Pellegrini's project was enormous and the fears were confirmed in the midst of the decline of the game and results by the Betic team. The Cantabrian broke recovery forecasts, advanced in weeks the best omens and took the controls of Betis without hardly needing to be at one hundred percent. Since his return to Levante, the figures say it all: six goals in five games played while his team only knew the defeat in the first of them, against Levante, when his two goals when entering the field almost prevented him. Pellegrini smiles. Also beticism. Even Luis Enrique. The best Channels is back converted into an improved and more decisive version of the one that already started the campaign with brilliance.

You don't just live on numbers. Santander's growing scoring nose is just the icing on the cake for his role in this Betis: it is crucial from his midfield position, in which he helps in destruction, leads the pressure and pulls the strings at will thanks to a versatility that, for the moment, finds no limits. Against Celta, his last master class left a bit of extreme precision with his left foot and another of perfect resolution with his right hand.

Channels want more. He played his first full match against Celta since his return and his physical condition already resembles that of his teammates. “January and February will be key,” he warned a few days ago about the aspiration to go to Europe. His teammates increase their performance with the Cantabrian on the grass and that gives Pellegrini air. The Eurocup is just around the corner and Canales wants to be in it after winning the trust of Luis Enrique and becoming the fashionable player in LaLiga. His growth on the pitch reflects a total player capable of containing, creating and being decisive in front of goal. “I don't see myself beyond Betis,” he said about his future. There will be no shortage of suitors.