Real Betis lost by the narrowest of margins to Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund at Westfalenstadion in a UEFA Champions League-phase match, a defeat abc.es reported carried a certain logic given the hosts’ weight in European football, but one that left the Spanish side with work still to do to secure a place among the competition’s top 24.
Manuel Pellegrini made sweeping changes to his lineup, starting Facundo Bernal, Deossa and Valentín Gómez while leaving Marc Roca, Fornals, Lo Celso and Fran García on the bench. On this occasion, though, the selections looked like excessive concessions against a Dortmund side managed by Niko Kovač that went out with its strongest team.
The rotation gamble that fell short in Dortmund
Betis arrived with a perfect record in this season’s Champions League, and that buffer allowed Pellegrini the license to experiment. Still, the feeling afterwards was that the changes lowered the team’s level precisely when the opposition raised theirs.
The visitors were nonetheless brave and proud. More than 6,000 Betis supporters traveled to Dortmund and filled their section with a green tide that matched the famous Yellow Wall, which never falls silent, for much of the evening. The traveling fans watched their team compete until exhaustion.
Antony anonymous, Ruibal decisive off the bench
Antony was largely residual on a night of high stakes, and a disallowed goal was almost the only thing he produced. He rarely took on defenders and lost possession repeatedly before Pellegrini replaced him with Aitor Ruibal, who changed the complexion of the match within five minutes.
German club Borussia Dortmund defeated Spanish side Real Betis 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League. The first half of the match in Dortmund ended goalless. Dortmund took the lead in the 49th minute when Fabio Silva found the net. Real Betis substitute Aitor Ruibal equalised in the… pic.twitter.com/DtmtQJcUPs
Ruibal, a Catalan, made his Champions League debut as if he had played in the competition all his life. He delivered an inside pass to Ortiz that forced goalkeeper Gregor Kobel into a fine save, and he finished clinically from a gift by Abde to bring Betis level in the contest’s flow. Pellegrini later tried to use him as a forward, but by then Dortmund’s crowded defense had become impenetrable, and the match had already been decided while Betis goalkeeper Adrián Valles kept accumulating saves.
Top-24 hopes intact, but the Bratislava trip looms
Betis had won every Champions League match before this one, and the club still has most of the work done to finish among the 24 best teams in the new league phase. The defeat at Westfalenstadion, however, was a missed opportunity to move closer to the places reserved for the chosen elite, and the homework remains undone.
The attention now turns to Bratislava, where Betis play their next match against Slovan Bratislava.
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