Tonight a hopeful Villamarín Stadium fulfilled a long standing dream, that of witnessing a European match in Heliópolis coming sooner than expected. Nothing was taken for granted and the squad were keen to put on a good performance against a team such as Olympique Lyonnais who were here to open the group stage.

PepeMel had made use of player rotations and gave Didac his opportunity to debut, Lolo Reyes and Chuli their first official competition match and we saw the return of Steinhöfer on the right wing. The opening minutes were not good for the green-and-white team and imprecise play cost them dear. Gomis’ power created some difficulty for their opponent but didn’t cause any real danger; he did make them uneasy and they found it hard to pass the ball around.

Pepe Mel’s squad started to grow, first by counterattacking and eventually taking more control of the run of play. Verdú hang back and Nosa was able to connect better with the Catalan player. Still no danger was being created on the wings but Cedrick and Vadillo fired some warning shots with their speed. By the 30^th minute Betis was in control of the match and the French could only counterattack.

There were no clear scoring opportunities throughout the first half up until the final minutes when Betis put on the pressure. Nose made a mistake in a one-on-one with Lopes, instead of shooting he tried to set up the ball for Chuli who was not able to connect with it and was beaten by Bedimo. This was the Gauls’ first scare; they were not able to recover, because another was to come a few minutes later. Cedrick stole the ball on the wing and after a one-two with Verdú he found himself alone against the visiting keeper... but Lopes came out on top. At the end of the first half the two teams were drawn but Betis looked better on the pitch.

The second half did not start well either. The same problem of possession loss and many fouls around the area held Betis back and they were not able to move up the pitch. But just like the first half, and aided by substitutions, they turned the tables. Juanfran came on for Vadillo and Salva for Verdú and the team came together again as they had in the first half. However, the French were now more on the attack.

For a short while the match got a little crazy with alternating counter attacks. Mel had to use up his third substitution because Perquis had problems. This substitution had not been planned on. Salva’s team mates recognised he was on form and he started to receive the ball. The player from Almeria did not let them down; first with a setup for Nosa, then a brilliant one-two with the Nigerian player whose shot hit the post. The latter was the closest call in the second half.

Later, Chuli claimed a penalty, but the minutes passed and Lyon also had their opportunities. The final stages of the match were painted green and white. Cedrick had the best chance to score but he was unable to put it away. The match ended and the green-and-whites were left with the sensation that, had their precision been better they would have taken three points.