Betis open with a defeat against impetuous Rangers

This goal alone caused the Spanish team and the bench to react. Manuel Pellegrini Moved the bench to give other ideas to the gameIt worked, but there wasn’t enough time to at least get a draw.

At Ibrox Park, Betis are presented with a good opportunity to rebuild their form after faltering in last Saturday’s 5-0 defeat at home to Barcelona, ​​and will do so against a Rangers side who are always strong at home but are a long way from the team they were with Steven. they met. Gerrard won the Scottish league two years ago and reached the Europa League final in 2022, losing on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt at Sevilla’s stadium Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.

Pellegrini’s team made a good start to the season despite the league disruption, becoming favorites to top the group in their second continental competition for the third consecutive year, but in order to do so he had to prove it at the event. In principle, however, this stage is quite complicated, with Aris Limassol and Sparta Prague completing the group.

Scottish formation coached by Englishman Michael Beale Lost in crushing defeat against Dutch PSV Eindhoven in Champions League previewHe presented the game as an opportunity to regain his confidence after a start to the league that left much to be desired.

One of the novelties of the match was that Chilean Claudio Bravo entered the goal in a way that had not been seen until Thursday due to the injury he had suffered since the pre-season, and Portuguese Rui Silva had to return due to his injury in Barcelona. now a start in these beginnings of the campaign.

It didn’t take long for Claudio Bravo to head the Scottish counter-attack four minutes laterWelsh Rabbi Matondo stood in front of him with great speed but saved the ball with his ability to pay due to poor definition from the Chilean striker.

This was an isolated incident in a match in which Betis had possession of the ball and were almost always in the Glasgow team’s half, giving Moroccan Ez Abde, who was making his first start, the option of leading the team into the field. The first problem is the English goal Jack Butland.

Abde, who was very active on the left wing, made another good pass on the half hour mark, but this seemed to trigger a reaction from Rangers, who started winning duels on split balls and went even closer with vertical play. , Now yes, big deal to Bravo He had to make another successful intervention after Sima’s shot from inside the penalty area..

Sima created danger once again at the start of the second half, this time sending a wonderful cross to Matondo, who was unable to spot the goal, as did compatriot Thomas Lawrence, who saw the ball thrown from distance go wide. beam.

These were the worst moments for Pellegrini’s team. Did not leave the field in the first ten minutes of the restart Croatian Borna Barisic also managed to open the scoring with a direct free kick, which resulted in the ball hitting the crossbar.

Lawrence’s injury on the hour mark and his replacement by Dutchman Sam Lammers appeared to have given the Sevillian side a respite, but local persistence soon led to a series of disclaimers and even a goal from Sima after a great save from Bravo. was rewarded. VAR review in case of a possible handball.

The Chilean coach, who could not see this clearly before, now Rodri enabled Willian José and Ayoze to enter the field in one movePlenty of powder was used to develop the contribution of Ez Abde, Borja Iglesias and Luiz Henrique and this was immediately apparent as Betis emerged towards him towards the opposition’s area.

This time the Green and Whites harassed the Scottish team and cornered them on home soil, but time was against them to avoid an unexpected defeat at this start of the European tournament.