The attraction was served as soon as the starting eleven that Manuel Pellegrini had to receive Rayo Vallecano was known. There was news. And the good and important ones. Isco, the green and white’s best player last season, who already had minutes again two days ago against Barcelona and last Sunday in Villarreal, appeared again in a Betis starting team. Seven months after having been in that duel in Las Palmas of unfortunate memory both for the one from Arroyo de la Miel and for all of Beticism. Then, the player from Malaga could not help the team in the last matches to qualify for the Europa League and avoid the Conference and also, personally, he missed the Euro Cup to which he was going to be called up due to his good work with the shirt he It sports the shield of the thirteen bars. Pellegrini brought Isco and Lo Celso together for the first time and it was interesting to see the solution. At the beginning, the ’22’ was positioned behind Vitor Roque and the Argentine started from the right. Isco and the Brazilian pressured the visiting team’s ball output from their goalkeeper and centre-backs, while the one from Rosario kept his position a little more, not as a pure winger, but tending to get into the center to leave the full lane for Sabaly. . With the always annoying Álvaro García opposite, that could be something more dangerous. So Lo Celso limited himself to trying to combine from the right flank. Abde was that Guadianesque free verse from the left that lately contributes less, or even nothing, than what he offered in October and November. With this situation of the players on the field, a match began that Betis needed to win to place seventh and get closer to sixth place after Villarreal’s victory in Leganés. The start of the match was green and white. The first ten minutes. Pellegrini’s team came out bossy and also active in the pressure, with Isco and Vitor Roque. In fact, in the 2nd minute of play the Betis showed their intentions. Fran Vieites took a long ball from the area, Pathé Ciss cleared badly and Isco won the ball. The captain left it to Vitor Roque who, without thinking about it from outside the area, surprised the visiting goalkeeper, although Batalla put his hand in to send that poisoned ball for a corner kick. The dominance lasted less than 20 minutes for Pellegrini’s team. . Rayo ate the toast in terms of having the ball to the green and white and began to play it very well on the Villamarín grass. In fact, in the 18th minute Diego Llorente saved what could have been the 0-1 score by blocking a shot by Chavarría from inside the area after a personal action by Álvaro García on the left. It could have been worse. Íñigo Pérez’s men were playing their best minutes and just after half an hour of play Embarba scored a goal for the visiting team, although he did not get on the scoreboard since he was offside, corroborated by the semi-automatic score. Betis fought, as they did against Petrocub and Helsinki. And what football is, in the best moment of the franjirrojos, Vitor Roque worked a penalty from Álvaro García. García Verdura did not hesitate and whistled for it. Isco caught the ball, deceived the visiting goalkeeper and scored 1-0 on the scoreboard. In the 37th minute there was celebration throughout the Villamarín but clearly it could be said that it was unfair. With the advantage on the scoreboard for the Heliopolitans the second half began but the joy was going to last short. Six minutes after the restart, Perraud did not control a clearance well and Isi won the ball from him in the three-quarter zone. Without thinking, the Rayista captain hit the ball with a left foot against the post, against which Fran Vieites could do nothing. The tie was of no use and Pellegrini began to move the bench. Isco remained on the field until the 65th minute and the Heliopolitan coach gave the alternative to another who was returning after injury, Fornals. The man from Castellón was positioned in the center of the field next to Cardoso, a good game for the American international, because he also came out of the Altimira game. Assane also entered the duel. But the novelty of those first substitutions was that Lo Celso left the wing and moved to the center. And there we saw a better Argentine than with Isco on the field. The ’20’ asked for the ball, gave the Heliopolitan game the necessary pause to try to dangerously reach the area defended by Batalla and made passes into space to leave his teammates alone. So much so that he gave away three goals. First to Vitor Roque and then to Juanmi. In both actions the Rayista goalkeeper was good, avoiding the second green and white goal. In the third he went to Fornals, but the man from Castellón, lacking rhythm, speed and confidence, did not get in front of the Argentine goalkeeper, but instead tried to pass the ball to Juanmi, an option that was cleared by the visiting defense. In that final stretch of the last twenty minutes, Rayo also had their chances of also taking the win. First Fran Vieites prevented Isi’s second goal in the game, and then, with all of Betis already focused on the rival area, a pass from Ratiu was sent by De Frutos over the goal with Vieites beaten. Real Betis: Fran Vieites; Sabaly (Aitor, d. 75), Bartra, Diego Llorente, Perraud; Altimira (Fornals, d. 65), Johnny Cardoso; Lo Celso, Isco (Assane, d. 65), Abde (Juanmi, d. 81); and Vitor Roque (Bakambu, d. 81). Rayo Vallecano: Battle; Ratiu, Lejeune, Aridane, Chavarría; Unai López (Óscar Valentín, d. 65), Pathé Ciss; Embarba (Pacha Espino, m. 80), Isi (Trejo, m. 80), Álvaro García (De Frutos, m. 45); and Nteka (Camel, d. 65). Goals: 1-0, m. 37: Isco, penalty. 1-1, m. 51: Isi. Referee: García Verdura (Catalan Committee). He showed yellow cards to Pathé Ciss, Álvaro García, Isi and Pacha Espino. Incidents: 18th matchday of LaLiga 24-25. 53,121 spectators at the Benito Villamarín stadium. During the break, the traditional solidarity launch of stuffed animals was held so that no child is left without a gift this Christmas. In the end, points were distributed in the last official match of the year 2024. Betis ends these 365 days with 25 points, something that It seems short for what has been achieved so far and for the European objective, which is five points away, although it has lost units that it will have to continue recovering once it returns from the Christmas break. For now, the first round could end with 28 points, a figure that would equal what was achieved in the first round of last year 23-24.
#Fear #heights
