Following an impressive first half to the season, Real Betis sat just four points off a Champions League spot in February. Since then, their fortunes have taken a significant turn for the worse and they now find themselves in 11th place.
Betis opponents on Monday night, Espanyol, went into this game level on points with their hosts, albeit with a marginally superior goal difference. At the beginning of November, Rubis side were second in La Liga behind Barcelona.
With both teams campaigns crawling over the line in disappointing fashion, this game was unlikely to spark either into a late surge for the European spots. This analysis will attempt to understand why neither side managed to take all three points.
Lineups
Without pivotal midfielder William Carvalho to call upon, Quique Setién elected to partner Andrés Guardado with Wilfrid Kaptoum in the middle of the park. The fluid trio of Sergio Canales, Jesé Rodríguez and Giovani Lo Celso led the attack. Former Borussia Dortmund defender Marc Bartra played on the left to provide ball carrying potential down that flank, with Zouhair Feddal occupying the centre of Betis back three.
Rubi set his team up in a compact 5-3-2 without the ball, with the wing-backs Javi López and Adrià Pedrosa pushing further up-field during established attacks. Óscar Melendo joined Borja Iglesias up front but had a free role to drop off and link the midfield and attack. Talented young midfielder Marc Roca was the chief distributor at the heart of the Espanyol side.
Both sides exert measured pressure
From the beginning of this encounter, both teams implemented a controlled approach to pressing. Betis were dominant in the early stages, with Espanyol looking to guide them down the sides before closing out space against the touchline.
They also pressed aggressively in response to triggers. Backwards passing and loose touches acted as cues for the away sides attackers to apply hard pressure to the Betis defenders. The home team, meanwhile, adopted similar methods, closing off the potential for their opponents to progress possession centrally.
The image below shows Espa
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