As Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid prepare to face Real Betis in La Liga, here is your opposition preview on all things Betis ahead of this very important game.
On Friday night, at 21:00 CEST, Real Madrid will kick off match day four of the La Liga season, as they face Real Betis on the road.
But, what can we expect from the hosts on Friday?
Well, to start things off, there are three very familiar names in the Betis ranks. Let's go through them based on how recently they joined the club. Earlier this week - having had his contract at Real Madrid mutually terminated this summer - Dani Ceballos rejoined Betis, nine years after leaving for Los Blancos.
He will meet up with Fran Garcia, who also joined the Seville outfit this summer, just a lot earlier on, having been sold by Real Madrid for around 5 million Euros. He has featured in all three of their opening La Liga games, starting in two of those.
Then, finally, the former Blanco who has actually been there for a while, Isco. Having joined in the summer of 2023, he instantly made an impact in his first season, scoring eight goals, providing five assists and creating 12 big chances in his first La Liga season, before a brutally timed injury kept him out of a potential place in the Spain Euros squad.
The following season, having returned from the said injury, he again re found his form, scoring nine times and providing eight assists in 22 league games, with just 17 of those being starts. As a reward, he was called up to the Spain national team for the first time in six years, winning his 39th cap in the UEFA Nations League final against Portugal.
However, sadly, more injuries soon came back to haunt Isco, as they so often have in his career. As a result, he only featured in eight La Liga games last season, and just the solitary start. The good news for him is he has featured in all three of their games so far, and started last time out against Levante.
Anyway, onto the team. It had bee a great start to the season for Betis, beating Real Sociedad and Valencia 1-0 in their first two games. However, they were handed a brutal reality check in the clash at Levante, losing the game 5-2.
So, despite the two clean sheets, it is clear they can be exposed defensively. They also like to play quite possession based football under manager Manuel Pellegrini, which is something that could play into Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho's hands.
Both he and the boss go way back, having both fought against each other for the Premier League title between 2013 and 2015 whilst managers of Manchester City and Chelsea, with both gaffers winning one title each in those years.
In terms of dangermen, Cucho Hernandez was their top scorer in the league last season with 11, and provides some pace. Moroccan winger Abdessamad Ezzalrouli returned from an injury that kept him out of the FIFA World Cup last weekend, and could play a part here too. He scored 10 goals and provided eight assists from the left wing last season.
