At 38 years and 140 days, the Real Betis forward has become the oldest player to score three in a La Liga matchThey were all there except him, everyone waiting for the old man again. It was six minutes to two, time to go, and in the tunnel at the Benito Villamarín 21 players lined up ready to go out alongside the referee, Valentín Pizarro Gómez, and one of his assistants. Just up the stairs, the other linesman stood by the dressing-room door, flag in one hand, getting a little impatient. “We’re only missing Joaquín,” he called down, “… yeah I know.” Alongside him the Betis manager, Joan Francesc Ferrer ‘Rubi’, wore a look that said what do you want...
This is the game you can’t afford to lose, and the Sevilla coach’s wild eyes showed what winning the 130th derby meantWhen it was over, Julen Lopetegui started roaring, mouth so wide you could fit his half of Seville inside. He wore a wild look in his eyes and punched the air with the kind of force that dislocates shoulders. Which might not sound so unusual, but it is for him. Éver Banega was the first to leap into his arms, and then others followed, violence in the embrace.Across the pitch, in the far corner where Banega was going now, the rest of Sevilla’s players hopped about, doing that disco thing, waving their arms up and down and shouting. Way...
Real Betis v Celta Vigo was supposed to be the end. But one coach looks like he will still be standing after a dramatic finaleMaybe the best way to grasp what happened on Wednesday night and what it meant is to pause it and watch it back again frame by frame, a thousand things in a single shot, a thousand more in the next. Look at Celta de Vigo: you can actually pinpoint the second where their hearts rip in half. It’s the same second when life floods back into Betis. The clock shows 89.47 and the ball drops to Nabil Fekir, near the penalty spot. Stop it there: everyone’s looking at him, close. Only Iago Aspas isn’t in the...
Exhilarating, passionate and very sevillano, Saturday’s derby saw Joaquín Caparrós oversee another triumph over BetisSomewhere in the middle of the smoke and the bodies, Sevilla’s bus began its 640-metre journey, slowly opening a path through the palms hammering at its side. Police vans escorted it along Calle Luis de Morales and, as the crowd parted, fireworks turning everything red, fans saw their manager sitting on the front row. Joaquín Caparrós wore a slightly manic smile, shook his fists, applauded, and thumped at the window. Outside, some ran to keep up. There wasn’t far to go: the bus turned left, left again and drew to a halt in front of the 480-square-metre, 200,000-tile mosaic, the finest façade in football, with its...
Before the match, Real Betis’s manager had to apologise for his admiration for Barça. After beating them, Barcelona’s players spoke of their admiration for him In the final moments before the first half began on Sunday afternoon, Real Betis’s manager, Quique Setién, approached Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets and asked him for his shirt. He wanted to frame it, he said. Busquets nodded and smiled, so Setién thanked him and headed out towards the bench at the Camp Nou. As he went, he also had a word with Lionel Messi, whose shirt already hangs on his wall, alongside that of Luka Modric. Messi was returning to action after three weeks out with a broken arm, today of all days, and Setién...