1 year ago
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13 min: Joaquin beats a couple of challenges as he dribbles down the inside-left channel. He goes for the one-two with Perez. Had Perez been aware, United would have been opened up. He wasn’t, though, and the move falls apart.
12 min: Joaquin aims a curler towards the top right. A slight deflection off the lunging Casemiro takes it past De Gea and off the outside of the right-hand post. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
10 min: A free kick for United is flung into the Betis box. The hosts counter at speed and for a second they’re three on two! Juanmi can’t pick the correct pass, though, and another great opportunity is passed up.
9 min: A huge chance for Betis as Juanmi races down the inside-left channel after a long pass. He’s got the beating of Maguire, but takes a touch to his left, making life harder for himself. He bundles a low shot across De Gea and towards the bottom right … only for the ball to sail inches wide of the post. So close!
8 min: The corner’s hit long. Casemiro, who wins more than his fair share of attacking headers, eyebrows on towards Weghorst at the far stick. Weghorst is inches away from Keith Houchening one into the net, but doesn’t connect with his diving header.
7 min: Wan-Bissaka, much improved under Ten Hag, wins a corner down the right. The fully recovered Fernandes to take.
5 min: Sabaly crosses from the right. Fernandes heads clear, but also manages to nut Juanmi on the shoulder. He felt that, and stays down for a while before gingerly getting back up. United then counter, Rashford nearly releasing Pellistri down the middle only to overcook the pass. Rui Silva claims.
4 min: Perez briefly threatens to bustle his way into a shooting position down the inside-left channel. The home side look up for this. An early goal would certainly give United something to think about.
2 min: De Gea gives Wan-Bissaka something of a hospital pass. The full back does well to return it to the keeper before Juanmi can nick it away. The Betis forward would have been clear on goal. Somewhere in the multiverse, it’s already 1-1.
Real Betis v Manchester United (agg: 1-4)
Betis get the second leg underway. A fine atmosphere at the sunny Estadio Benito Villamarín. Within seconds, the full debutant Pellistri tears down the right only to overcook his cross. A low fizzer might have found Rashford. What a start that could have been!
The teams are out! Los Verdiblancos wear their green and white; the Red Devils are in red. Say what you see. We’ll be off in a minute. “Outlier though that 5-0 defeat to Sporting 60 years ago is, I think time has gotten enough of a stomp on under that particular bridge and we can cheerfully disregard it,” quips Bill Preston. “Needing to score quite a few, I think Betis will press heavily from the go, but stoic defending in the face of thrilling heroics will easily see United through.”
Manuel Pellegrini speaks to BT. “It is a difficult game … it is not only the three goals, it is Manchester United … they have spent a lot of money on important players … it is important for us not to play with the three-nil in our mind … to start nil-to-nil … we need to play a good game in defence and be clear in attacking … we will try to play a good game to try to reverse … we were happy [with our early play at Old Trafford] but after that we made a mistake … one minute changed all we did in the whole game … now we must try to do it at home.”
Erik ten Hag talks to BT Sport. “[Pellistri] deserves it … he is training very well … Harry Maguire is training very well … it is about rotation … we know Harry can do the job, he is an outstanding player so he will do the job … [Pellistri] knows the principles, knows his job, and now it’s about him … he knows his teammates and the tactics and what we expect from him … he can do it and he has proved it in many games and also for the national team and we see it every day in training … you can’t go in a game when you are afraid of getting a booking [both Fernandes and Casemiro will miss the next match if booked this evening] … we play on the front foot … it is high pressing and aggressive … it can happen that you get a booking … but we have to win this game so you have to bring a strong team and Bruno and Casemiro belong in it.”
Pre-match entertainment. A schadenfreude special for United fans.
Real Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini makes three changes to the side named for the 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford. Rui Silva replaces Claudio Bravo in goal, while Edgar González and Aitor Ruibal step in for Luiz Henrique, who drops to the bench, and the hamstrung Luiz Filipe.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag makes four changes to his starting XI from the first leg. In come Harry Maguire, Tyrell Malacia, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and, making his long-awaited first start for the club, Facundo Pellistri. Raphael Varane, Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw drop to the bench, while Antony is ill.
The teams
Real Betis: Rui Silva, Sabaly, Pezzella, Edgar, Abner, Rodriguez, William, Ruibal, Juanmi, Joaquin, Ayoze.
Subs: Bravo, Martin, Ruiz, Iglesias, Canales, Henrique, Willian José, Guardado, Rodri, Miranda, Felix Garreta, Dani Pérez.
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Martinez, Maguire, Malacia, Fred, Casemiro, Pellistri, Fernandes, Weghorst, Rashford.
Subs: Heaton, Butland, Lindelöf, Sabitzer, Varane, Dalot, Shaw, Sancho, Elanga, McTominay.
Referee: Srdjan Jovanović (Serbia).
Preamble
Last week this happened …
… so Manchester United are very much on the brink of the quarter-finals. One word of warning, though. While they’ve won 20 of the previous 25 European ties in which they’ve won the first leg at home, one of the five failures sticks out like a sore thumb: in the 1963-64 European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals, they beat Sporting 4-1 at Old Trafford only to lose the return in Lisbon 5-0. That remains their heaviest defeat on the continental stage. Betis are battling against history all right, but that’s some outlier. Kick-off is at 5.45pm GMT, 6.45pm in Seville. ¡Esta encendido! It’s on!
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