The Real Betis camp still seem determined to paint themselves as having an unfair advantage ahead of their clash against Celtic on Thursday.
Manuel Pellegrini lit the fuse over the weekend when he bemoaned the fact his side were playing on Monday night [Scottish Sun]. This is due to the fact Celtic were playing on Saturday, therefore giving them two extra days to prepare for their Europa League game on Thursday night.
Even so, Betis managed to secure their first win of the season last night. A big 2-1 win in Granada courtesy of goals from Rodri and Sergio Canales sealed the success. It would prove to be a dramatic evening too as Canales slammed home the winner late on in the final minute.
But even after the game, Betis were still ruing the fact they had to play it in the first place so close to meeting Celtic. Matchwinner Canales said the following as quoted by the Daily Record:
“It certainly does not help us having to play so late on a Monday night before we have to play Celtic on Thursday. There is so little time between the games and it’s something La Liga must look at and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“The international break was good for me personally and I hope my goal is the start of something special. We knew we had to improve on the first few games of the season and we managed that. We are on the right track and we feel we are getting better.”
Yet despite the clear positive vibes from Canales, Pellegrini has stated the result will prove to make no difference to how they approach their clash with Celtic.
As quoted by the Record, the Betis boss said: “Winning is almost important no matter who the next game is against. If we had lost this game, it wouldn’t have had any impact against Celtic either.
“Thursday is a new game in a different competition where three points are the objective. Even if we had beaten Real Madrid there, it wouldn’t have changed how we approach the next game. We play to win always. It was important to get that first league win, but I always said we are on the right path.”
Real Betis trying to keep a level head before Celtic arrival
The mood in the Betis camp is extremely difficult to read at the moment. On one hand you have a player trying to talk up what it will do for their confidence. On the other, you have a manager trying to keep everything grounded ahead of Thursday night.
It’s clear Betis feel some sort of injustice in the scheduling saga. But in fairness, this could easily just be them trying to form a siege mentality.
Make no mistake, the pressure is on the La Liga side on Thursday night. They’re the home side and will be up against their main rivals on paper for second spot. Anything other than three points will be seen as a poor result.
So this could easily be a way for the Spanish side to relieve some of that pressure. A way for them to make the next couple of days a touch less intense. Whatever works for them I suppose, but it all seems a bit trivial.
Real Betis are only four games into their league campaign. They should hardly be tired. Celtic, on the other hand, are into double figures when it comes to competitive matches. Betis should be pleased they have such a short turnaround in the first place.
Their dramatic win in Granada doesn’t appear to have made them look overly confident ahead of Thursday night. But this is Celtic in Europe – expect the unexpected.
In other news, Celtic success in Alkmaar proves Manuel Pellegrini anger is over the top
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