Betis: The Cup gets serious

THE King’s Cup It’s starting to get serious. Defeated by Bétis the playoffs against Palma del Río (1-7) and Torrent (1-4), the visit to Murcia as the first and most difficult obstacle. A well-placed team … Group 2 of the Primera RFEF, where it faces Betis Deportivo, which it beat a month and a half ago by 1-2, and which was on a streak of four consecutive victories until its defeat last weekend against Sabadell at the Enrique Roca, the Nueva Condomina, where a full crowd of 31,000 spectators is expected to receive the team of Manuel Pellegrini, who watches this competition with eyes of ambition and with the desire to close the event smoothly. 2025 loaded with games and good news. To achieve this, the Chilean only repeats to his team that they must show the best competitive level in dates like this, that he does not want to relax in any way and that overtaking is an obligation. The team has always responded with this type of rival since the arrival in 2020 of the best coach in the history of the club, once champion (2022) and only eliminated in the Cup by First Division opponents (Athletic, Osasuna, Alavés and Barcelona).

This is a round of 16 where there is still no VAR and for which Betis arrives with a handful of injured players. Abde, Amrabat and Bakambu are in the African Cup and Isco, Junior, Llorente and Marc Roca are injured, so there will be some rotation, but not as much. In fact, Pellegrini only has Mawuli and Morante to complete the squad and neither of them will start. The eleven will be made up of players very similar to those who usually play in La Liga, with specific variations such as the presence of Adrián in goal, Ortiz on the side and the change at the head of the attack to give respite to Cucho Hernández.

It turns out that Pellegrini doesn’t want to disarm the team of ambition with these rotations, but rather bring out those who want more minutes to take advantage of windows like this. The inconvenience of the draw in Vallecas must serve as a catalyst to change the general image both tonight in Murcia and on Sunday at home against Getafe, a rival who has nothing to offer. The obligation of Betis is to seal its presence in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey and to reduce the distance that Espanyol now enjoys in this fifth place which seemed to belong to the green and white and which is five points away. The warnings in this round are there. Mallorca, Levante, Celta, Villarreal and Sevilla were eliminated, Real Sociedad suffered and Barcelona had to withdraw from the news… Tonight’s challenge is not easy but Betis has the elements to overcome whatever they find.

In Adrián Colunga’s Murcia there is a name known as Pedro León, a football romantic who participates in the defense of his home club without being paid. The change of coach was a good thing for the Granas, who will benefit from the support of a large and inspired crowd after beating Cádiz 3-2 in the previous match. The duel will be refereed by Alicante’s Juan Martínez Munuera, who has a record of nine wins, nine draws and eleven defeats for Betis in his performances, the last against Atlético de Madrid. There will be no VAR and it is expected that the referee will not be decisive. Overcoming this round is what is expected in Heliópolis, where they dream of another final with echoes of 2022 where they now have their home: the Cartuja stadium.

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