Real Betis vs Celta Vigo Preview

La Liga resumes this Friday with Celta Vigo travelling to the Estadio Benito Villamarín to face Real Betis.

The hosts come into this tie in desperate need of a win that will end their rotten run of form and keep them in a position to help their quest for European football next season. Betis are currently on a four-game losing run in La Liga leaving them in eighth position, seven points behind the top six.

But Athletic Bilbao’s Copa del Rey trophy win means they have the chance to qualify for the Conference League next season if they finish in seventh so there’s still hope for Europe with eight games to go. Bridging the two-point gap between them and seventh-placed Villarreal should be the focus of head coach Manuel Pellegrini who is reportedly leaving at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Celta Vigo will be desperate to pick up another crucial win in their quest for La Liga survival when they play Betis.

At the start of the season, the visitors had high hopes of returning to European football through veteran Rafael Benítez and certainly didn’t plan to be scrapping for La Liga survival under his successor by April. But things are looking good for Celta and they’re the latest club to experience the ‘new manager bounce’ phenomenon under Claudio Giráldez. The new manager has collected an important four points from fellow relegation contenders Sevilla (W 2-1 away) and Vallecano (D 0-0 home) over the last two rounds.

Giráldez has already earned high praise from some of his players, including striker Jørgen Strand Larsen, who spoke about the squad’s belief in his attacking tactics. And given that the team was already scoring well on the road, accumulating 12 goals across their last seven La Liga away games (W2, D2, L3), fans can expect an exciting attacking display when they meet struggling Betis on Friday.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table