Without punch there is no Champions

There are sighs of Champions in Heliopolis. Although the tables in Getafe have raised more doubts than expected in Manuel Pellegrini’s team. His squad is firmly convinced that the distance of three points with respect to fourth place can be shortened, but neither the strength nor the punch accompanied his last stakes. The Verdiblanco team has three League games without scoring for the first time since 2018. Quite a brake when it comes to aspiring to have a place in the maximum continental competition next year.

Betis has tied a place in the Europa League after being crowned champion of the Copa del Rey. But the message is clear in the squad: there is an eagerness to cling to the fight for the Champions League in the face of the dubious performance shown by some candidates for it. The accumulated fatigue is one of the brakes of the Pellegrini team, which adds many minutes in some of its figures and is reflected in the version that they show on the pitch. He intends to park that circumstance for the coach, who trusts in a last squeeze of his team in these weeks.

But without a goal there is no paradise. It was already difficult for Betis to find the way to the opposite goal in the Cup final against Valencia and in the League that punch disappeared. Juanmi, the team’s top scorer so far in the league, has minimized his effectiveness in recent weeks, while the goal battle between Borja Iglesias and Willian José has not had a decisive impact on the last leg of the league either. Pellegrini expects more from Fekir and also from Canales. Both were differential in the achievements of this campaign and have in their boots the reasons that Betis has left to dream of that place in the Champions League.