Betis went to Montilivi on Thursday night still carrying the wreckage of a historical European debacle against Braga, with Manuel Pellegrini asking his players to respond with la valentía. The trip to Girona came with five points left to defend in the race for fifth place, and with Betis now down to one aim: lock up another season in Europe.
Pellegrini was expected to bring Álvaro Valles back in goal, while Llorente was out with an ankle sprain. Isco could get minutes, but the Betis midfielder was expected to begin on the bench. That selection talk mattered because Thursday at 11:00 p.m. had already been marked as a line of failure for Betis, whose campaign was described as effectively over after the Braga match.
Girona, by contrast, came in 11th in LaLiga and three points off eighth place, with a six-point cushion above the relegation zone. Before this match, they had beaten Villarreal 1-0 and drawn 1-1 at Real Madrid, a run that underlined why the Catalan side remained awkward opponents despite a squad hit by injuries in attack and defense. Blind had recovered and was expected to return to the starting lineup, while Abel Ruiz was unavailable, Vanat had already finished his season, and Van de Beek, Juan Carlos Martín, Portu and Ter Stegen remained long-term absences.
For Girona, the table left room to push upward. For Betis, the margin was much narrower: hold fifth place until the end of the championship, or let a promising season slide after hope had already been turned into disappointment in key matches at La Cartuja. Seven jornadas remained after the match, but the pressure was immediate, because this was no longer about ambition. It was about whether Betis could steady itself in time to secure the Europe it still had left to play for.
