Needs-Based Routing: A 5-1 Approach

It was a Betis with a lot of difference between its ranks, far from being compact, imprecise in the final meters and lacking leaders on the pitch. Suffocated with the pressure at first and then incapable when he did have the ball, Pellegrini’s men went from being a cyclone against Getafe to being swept away like a leaf in the Bernabeu. These ups and downs are not typical of a team with those aspirations. Only Cucho, a solitary rider, was saved above. And footballers like Antony, Natan or Deossa were missed, who did not respond in a scenario where there is a cotton test to see who is the expensive one and who is the average one.

And this win portrays the needs of this team, which has to work more on compacting itself, feeling more secure, controlling the games, securing the flanks and knowing how to combine. A team that can have days of glory like against the Getafe but he cannot alternate them with these ridiculous ones against Madrid. It is not worth accumulating one night to remember with another to forget because that regularity does not lead to anything good. And everything cannot be trusted in the absence of a striker, there is a lot to work on to make the team even more reliable and stay on its feet for 90 minutes regardless of the opponent.

The duel had begun with Madrid biting and with Betis looking for adjustments on the fly. Ortiz suffers a lot with Vinicius, who wants to take center stage in the Mbappé gap. The green and white intention is to play quickly inside but they barely have the ball under control and that circumstance is an anecdote since it is up to them to defend themselves. With this scenario, what Xabi Alonso’s team were looking for was going to arrive with a closed ball after Ortiz’s foul, admonished, to Vinicius, who finished off Gonzalo at the far post, beating a clueless Ricardo. The debutant looked like the Swiss. It was the 20th minute and Madrid had what they wanted, enough to now back down, and it was Betis’ turn to express itself. That’s where he started missing Antony, for example, and seeing that Aitor has days and days.

Deossa takes his left foot for a walk and shows confidence with his long-range attempts but none of them really go on goal, and if they did, be careful, Courtois is there. Pellegrini’s team does enjoy the ball and its arrivals in the final stretch of the first half, when it accumulates corner kicks in its favor, a save by Valverde after a masterful pass from Fornals to Aitor and internments that generate concern in the local parish, which asks for the intermission to arrive because the tie was sniffing. It didn’t arrive and the break is dressed with 1-0 on the scoreboard.

Since Pellegrini doesn’t quite like what he sees, he puts Bellerín in for the warned Ortiz and Lo Celso instead of Deossa, who expresses an offensive will. Fornals moves back to midfield with Roca. It was not a good performance by the Colombian on his first big stage in Spain beyond the Cartuja. The green and white team had to wait until game time without anything happening against them to stay alive in the duel, a classic in duels like this. He had it with a huge pass from Fornals to Cucho, he put the forward into the battle with Asencio and Rüdiger and the Colombian, in the area, wins the game against both but slips away when Antony arrived only behind. However, something untoward was going to happen. That play was the prelude to Gonzalo’s 2-0 lead. A good goal after controlling with his chest and shooting without a mark, between Bartra and Natan, vindicating the day in which Mbappé is not there.

Madrid is very comfortable at this time with the advantage on the scoreboard and enjoying themselves against a Betis that is not linked and that cannot find a way to create danger. Asencio finishes, arriving alone with a header from a corner and makes it 3-0. And Betis is beginning to wish for this match to end now because it looks like there will be little good in what remains, exposed to a rival that is arriving and enjoying its superiority. Antony He wants to respond with a career and a service that Cucho and Aitor cannot achieve. A very close cross from a free-kick by Lo Celso ends up hitting the post when no one heads it. It is Betis’ way of waking up for dignity in a match already resolved. Marc Roca then meets Courtois with his right-footed shot and, without interruption, Valles does the same with Rodrygo. Another shot is from Aitor, which forces the Belgian goalkeeper to show off and clear.

Betis cuts differences with a goal from Cucho after a long pass from Aitor behind the center backs and the Colombian’s calmness to cut back and shoot hard after beating Courtois. There are still almost 25 minutes left and Pellegrini brings in Altimira and Riquelme to seek a reaction that brings him closer to dignity. Betis has the second in the next play with a pass from Cucho and a shot from Riquelme that the local goalkeeper takes in trouble so that Antony does not manage to connect with the rebound. And whistles are heard at the Bernabéu. Antony has another arrival on the counterattack and his low shot is easy for the goalkeeper. Rüdiger complains to his colleagues about the poor balance. There is room to think about more but another post prevents it. A wonderful shot by Riquelme hits Courtois’s left post when it could have been a real goal with a quarter of an hour left. Betis is standing despite everything, but it will be a mirage. In these fields you cannot forgive and that is how Gonzalo saw it, who scored the fourth after an assist from Güler. And then came Fran García’s goal to close the score at 5-1. Goal and think about something else because at the Bernabéu it was a nightmare for Betis, who have a lot to change if they want to turn the dream of the Champions League into a real option this season.