Yet another La Liga vs. Bundesliga clash takes place in the Champions League this week, as two teams who are punching above their weight in their respective leagues now face off against one another. Manuel Pellegrini is leading one of the best-built sides in Spain, while BVB have only lost one game all season, and none in the league. This one is expected to be a cracker of a fixture. Here is our Borussia Dortmund vs Real Betis preview.
Manuel Pellegrini Continues His Magic with Real Betis
Real Betis are currently enjoying their best run in recent history. Last season, Manuel Pellegrini led the club back to Champions League football for the first time in 21 years, and only their second overall. In La Liga this season, they currently sit fourth with 23 points, six points above their city rivals Sevilla. In the Champions League, Betis are unbeaten after three games and sit fifth in the table, one of the only five clubs to have a 100% win rate in the competition.
They sit above fellow La Liga clubs Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, who are much further down the table. Victories against Lille, Feyenoord, and Porto mean that Los Heliopolitanos are looking at this BVB fixture as definitely winnable. Coming off the back of a 2-1 victory over Malaga on the weekend, Real Betis are definitely going to make the German side sweat.
Borussia Dortmund Carry an Unbreakable Spirit
For the first time in quite some time, Borussia Dortmund are not playing second fiddle to Bayern Munich. In fact, Die Borussen are tied on points with Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga with 18 points, sitting second only because of goal difference. The two sides most recently met in Der Klassiker, where BVB came from behind to take two points off Bayern Munich and maintain their close proximity to the title holders. Manager Niko Kovac has only lost two games this season: the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup against Bayern Munich and a surprising 1-0 defeat to Bodo/Glimt in the second round of the Champions League.
Players to Watch Out For
Real Betis, as mentioned previously, have one of the most well-rounded squads in Europe. Isco, Abde, and Troy Parrott have all started the season spectacularly, while Pablo Fornals and Nelson Deossa have helped run things from midfield. However, the best player for Real Betis has undoubtedly been goalkeeper Alvaro Valles, who keeps inching closer to a national team call-up with every performance he puts in.
The former Las Palmas goalkeeper has conceded only 15 goals in 11 games this season in La Liga, keeping five clean sheets. His total saves tally stands at 46, one of the highest in the league, and he has the best saves-per-match ratio in the current La Liga season. Putting him to the test will be quite the attacking power, though.
Serhou Guirassy is undoubtedly one to watch for BVB, as the Guinean forward has scored eight goals this season so far, including half of them in the Champions League. Fabio Silva, who netted his fifth goal of the season to tie Der Klassiker, is also in good form alongside Guirassy. Both of these forwards found the back of the net against Bayern, and they will be well fed by midfielders Jobe Bellingham and Joey Veerman, who both have three assists each.
Fond Memories for Marc Bartra
Center-back Marc Bartra will have memories flashing by when he sees the Yellow Wall, as he spent some time at the German club from 2016 to 2018. He joined the Black and Yellow from Barcelona and won a DFB-Pokal with his new side a year later. After 51 games across two seasons, Bartra departed the club and joined Real Betis, with whom he will now face his former club.
Head-to-Head Record
- This is the first official meeting between the two sides, with the teams having met once in the past for a friendly fixture. Borussia Dortmund won that match 2-0.
- BVB have won four out of their last four games against Spanish opponents.
- Dortmund have only lost two out of their last 24 home games in the Champions League.
- Manuel Pellegrini previously got knocked out by Borussia Dortmund in the 2011/12 competition, when his miracle side Malaga lost to the German club in the quarterfinals.
- Real Betis have lost only two of their last 12 away European games.
Team News and Prediction
Striker Cucho Hernandez has been out injured for Betis for a couple of weeks now, but Troy Parrott is more than capable of filling that role. For Borussia Dortmund, the list is longer. Emre Can, Justin Lerma, and Giannis Konstantelias have all missed over 10 games for the club due to injury.
Prediction: Real Betis 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
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