The Green and Whites have contested five pre-season friendlies so far, beating Austria Salzburg 5-1 and Saudi-Arabian club Al-Ittihad with ex-Werkself pro Moussa Diaby 4-1. They lost against Premier League clubs Liverpool (1-0) and Manchester United (3-2) in the context of a tour to the USA and were held to a goalless draw by Spanish second-tier side Cadiz last Wednesday.
Real Betis finished in seventh place in the last La Liga campaign to qualify for the UEFA Conference League. They lost the decisive match for sixth place at home to Real Sociedad San Sebastian 2-0 on the second-to-last matchday. The storied club have established themselves among Spain’s top seven teams since coach Luis Pellegrini took over in August 2020.
Betis enjoyed their most successful season under the Chilean in 2021/22, when they finished fifth. They beat Valencia in the Spanish Cup final that season to win the Copa del Rey for the third time in their history and encountered Bayer 04 for the first time. The Europa League group match in Sevilla ended in a 1-1 draw before the Werkself won 4-0 thanks to goals by Diaby (2), Florian Wirtz and Nadiem Amiri in Leverkusen. Real Betis, whose most prominent honorary members are Spanish King Felipe and his father Juan Carlos, finished in second place behind Bayer 04 and were eliminated by Eintracht Frankfurt, who went on to win the competition, in the last sixteen (2-1, 1-1 AET).
Sevilla is the 13th position in Pellegrini’s career as a coach. The 70-year-old coached Spanish sides Villarreal, Real Madrid and Malaga from 2004 to 2013. He was in charge of Manchester City from 2013 to 2016, winning the Premier League in 2014 and the League Cup in 2014 and 2016. Pellegrini coached West Ham United before joining Real Betis.
Needless to say, there have been a number of changes in Sevilla’s personnel since their first encounter with the Werkself. Goalkeeping legend Claudio Bravo, who has made 150 appearances for Chile, left the club this summer. The 41-year-old had played in seven league matches in Betis colours last season. Portuguese netminder Rui Silva is Sevilla’s number one now.
Betis signed 31-year-old defender Ricardo Rodriguez just a few days ago. Rodriguez, who is Granit Xhaka’s Switzerland teammate, joined from FC Turin and is known in the Bundesliga from his time at VfL Wolfsburg (2012-2017). Two further experienced new signings are expected to strengthen Betis’ defence: 30-year-old centre-back Diego Llorente joined from Leeds United after a two-year loan spell at AS Roma. 26-year-old left-back Romain Perraud joined from Southampton. In addition, Real Betis have signed Marc Roca, who played for them on loan last season. The 27-year-old had played for FC Bayern from 2020 to 2022 before joining Leeds United.
Forward Borja Iglesias, who played for Bayer 04 on loan in the first half of 2024, has left Sevilla to join fellow La Liga side Celta Vigo on loan. Willian José, who was Betis’ most prolific striker on ten goals last season, joined Spartak Moscow this summer. Besides, two seasoned defenders have left Sevilla. 33-year-old Argentinian Germán Pezzella returned to his home country to join River Plate. Former Dortmund pro Sokratis (36) hung up his boots this summer. Club legend Joaquin had finished his active career at the age of 41 in the summer of 2023. The former forward boasts 622 La Liga appearances, a joint record along with goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta.
Captain Nabil Fekir and former Real Madrid player Isco are among Betis’ leaders. The latter will miss the match at the BayArena with a fibula fracture.
Attacking midfielder Paulina Bartz is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen for good on a permanent move to Hamburger SV in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. The 21-year-old, who was on loan to the newly promoted side in the winter, originally had a contract to 2027.
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The Bayer 04 Football School opened in 2007 – now this successful programme is getting a new name and a new logo: with immediate effect, the Bayer 04 Football School powered by BarmeniaGothaer is becoming the Bayer 04 Football Academy powered by BarmeniaGothaer.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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The sustainable use of the BayArena seats removed as part of the current stadium upgrade has taken on a new dimension: Following on from numerous Bayer 04 fans receiving their ‘Undefeated Champions seats’ and various clubs and community organisations from Leverkusen and the wider region having collected the dismantled seats, Blau-Gelbe Kreuz e.V. also made their way to the BayArena recently. The German-Ukrainian aid organisation took away around 2,100 seats; in Ukraine, these will be used to upgrade the sports infrastructure of two clubs.
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