Football Season Guide

After finishing sixth in 2017/18, Real Betis took a step back in 2018/19 by finishing 10th. The style of football grew frustrating too as they became too obsessed with keeping possession. All of this led to the sacking of Quique Setien. Real Betis didn’t want to tear the whole project up and start again. They did want to keep something of a possession-based approach, but wanted someone a little more pragmatic and found him in Rubi, who had just led Espanyol to Europa League qualification. Although Real Betis believe they have an improvement in the dugout, there has been a drop-off in the quality of the squad. They’ve lost a number of starters. Although they’ve gone out and signed replacements in each case, it could be argued that the replacement in each case is a slight downgrade, for example Alfonso Pedraza coming in for Junior Firpo or Nabil Fekier coming in for Giovani Lo Celso. It’s an interesting situation for Real Betis, then. They’ll want to improve on their 10th placed finish, but the squad might be worse even if the coaching change is expected to be a positive. The strength of Real Betis’ academy is a strength for the whole club. They always have gems coming through and always have options when an injury crisis hits. Their weakness under Setien was turning their possession into goals. They had the second-most possession last season, but just the 13th-most goals. The hope, though, is that this will balance out more under Rubi.