Real Betis travel to Estadi Montilivi on Tuesday evening looking for a response after their Europa League campaign collapsed against Braga. They led the quarter-final tie 3-1 on aggregate, then conceded four unanswered goals to Pau Victor, Vitor Carvalho, Ricardo Horta and Jean-Baptiste Gorby in the second leg.
That exit leaves Betis without a win in seven matches and with only five points from a possible 21, a run that has tightened the race for fifth place in La Liga. With seven games remaining, Celta are now within two points of Manuel Pellegrini’s side, and the margin for error is shrinking fast.
Girona, though, are not offering an easy way back. They drew 1-1 with Real Madrid last time out, have taken eight points and lost just once in their last five league gameweeks, and have won three of their most recent four home matches at Montilivi. For a side that finished third in 2023-24 and reached the Champions League for the first time in their history, this season has already demanded a very different kind of fight; they were also just one point above the drop zone last season and are level on points with 10th-placed Espanyol.
Betis know the recent history is on their side, at least a little. November’s 1-1 draw stretched their unbeaten run to three matches against Girona, but the wider record is still lopsided: Girona have one win in 15 meetings across all competitions since October 2010. That matters less than it once did now, with both clubs needing points for different reasons and Betis trying to protect the fifth-place finish that would secure a Europa League berth.
Both teams arrive with notable absences. Girona are without Juan Carlos, Portu and Abel Ruiz through knee and muscle problems, while Donny van de Beek, Vladyslav Vanat and Marc-Andre ter Stegen remain unavailable for the visitors. Ter Stegen has made just two appearances since joining from Barcelona and is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained at the start of February. Ricard Artero is a doubt, and Antony is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Osasuna.
This is the kind of league match that can change the mood around a season in an hour. Betis are trying to stop the slide before it costs them Europe, while Girona are trying to keep turning a sturdy late-season run into something bigger at home.
