Real Betis is eliminated from the UEFA Europa League on penalties

N'Diaye and Nono missed their mark

Betis were more nervous than their rival when they came out. They were unable to keep possession of the ball and doubt hung over every play by Betis, they left the midfield for Sevilla to do what they wanted with it because any possession Calderón's team had did not last long. Mbia had the physical presence and Rakitic the imagination. Despite all that, there was one piece of play that marked the first half. Perquis joined Gameiro in a test for speed seeking possession and the Polish player suffered a tear in the femoral biceps muscle. Until that time the team from the Nervión District of Seville had not created excessive danger but nine minutes later, the 19th minute would bring its consequences. Nono came on for the defender and N'Diaye had taken over Perquis' position with the consequential loss of strength in the midfield. Alberto Moreno centred the ball from the left wing which passed through the area falling at the feet of Reyes who seized the opportunity he had to shoot which was impossible for Adán to save. With the goal by Sevilla, Betis began to suffer a lot, too much for a team that was still progressing to the next round but Sevilla put the pressure on. The minutes passed and the Heliopolitan managed to hold their own but they still did not have possession of the ball. That was one of the problems experienced in the first half, unnecessary losses of possession condemning Betis to hold back. Sevilla were in control up until the end of the first half which was Betis sorely needed. The first half drew to a close without further predicament.

The second part was reserved for the best and the worst for Betis. The best aspect was the change in Betis in comparison with the first half. The worst aspect was the fact that Sevilla managed to equalise the round. Calderón's players were to be more aggressive and, above all, more accurate in their passing. They managed to get the ball out of their half effectively and there were counterattacks. In defence the won the follow-up plays and they controlled the high balls. Possession improved and Baptistao championed the Green-and-whites attack putting Beto to the test. But when the home side was at their best Bacca scored a goal. It was a repeat of the play that led to the first goal but with a different scorer. Alberto Moreno penetrated up the wing and centred with pinpoint accuracy for the Colombian in the 29th minute. From then on Betis put in a lot of effort but the match went into extra time.

The good performance shown by the green-and-white team since they came on for the second half, they were the only ones proposing plays and looking for chances, which they had. Rubén came across lose ball off a corner kick but his shot on goal but his shot struck a red-and-white player. Fatigue was accumulating in their legs, but the Betis players seemed to have more gasoline. Juan Carlos put in a cross from the left but Molina's attempted header did not reach the ball. Betis was better organised but Sevilla had the best scoring opportunity. The one-two between Gameiro and Marin led to a one on one with Adán who made two saves of the match. First he stopped Marin's shot, the rebound went to Vitolo, and he also managed to the Canarian's header on the goal line. With that scare Betis got to the interval after the first 15 minutes. The second half of extra time did not have much history and only pre-empted the penalty shoot-out, and to verify that the only team looking for victory was Betis.

The shoot-outs are a lottery, fortune takes centre stage and today it went against Betis. Adán stopped Viltolo's attempt but it was not to be enough as N'Diaye's penalty struck the post and Nono failed to score allowing Sevilla to progress.