Fornals and Cardoso start the session with the group

Johnny Cardoso and Pablo Fornals have been the main novelties at the start of Real Betis’ training at the Luis del Sol sports city, preparing for this Wednesday’s clash corresponding to the second round of the Copa del Rey against Sant Andreu. The midfielders are in the final phase of recovery from their respective muscle injuries and are beginning to be available for Manuel Pellegrini although they are not expected to be part of the squad to travel to Catalan lands and are serious doubts for Saturday’s duel at the Benito Villamarín against to FC Barcelona in LaLiga.

Cardoso was injured playing with his national team in the previous league break and Fornals missed the duels at Mestalla, Mlada Boleslav and Real Sociedad. Both have been evolving with their discomfort and are now beginning to gain presence in training.

Another novelty has been that of Sergi Altimira, who has been listening to Pellegrini’s long and serious talk with his men before entering the facilities and not jumping onto the grass with the team. The Catalan is being one of the players most used by the Chilean coach in this phase due to the number of casualties in the center of the field with the absences of Marc Roca, Johnny Cardoso and William Carvalho, in addition to those of Isco, Bellerín and Mendy.

At the same time, the youth players Mateo, Guirao and Jesús Rodríguez continued in the first team dynamic, staying with the seniors to prepare for the following duels in the Cup and LaLiga.