EFE
Updated Thursday, February 15, 2024-23:21
Betis
, who started as the clear favorite to overcome this tie and go to the round of 16 of the Conference League, were surprisingly defeated in their stadium against Dinamo
Zagreb
(
0-1), so now they will have to come back from the tie next week in the Croatian capital, where it will be necessary for him to change the image he gave this Thursday.
The Sevillian team, after the great disappointment of not continuing in the Europa League and falling back to the third continental competition, debuted in this tournament with the hope of starting a path that could end in the final that will be played in this edition at the AEK stadium
in Athens
.
The coach of the green and white,
Manuel Pellegrini
, had up to eleven casualties for this match, including injuries and players who are not registered, although the initial team was very recognizable to show the rival its power.
On the Croatian side, the also debutant in the competition appeared at the
Benito Villamarín
, a stadium strangely with much less presence of fans than usual, wanting to leave the tie open for the second leg, which could be good for gain morale in their domestic tournament, in which they are third, six points behind the leader
Rijeka
.
That cold atmosphere in the stands seemed to be transferred to the grass, where the locals had a hard time picking up speed against a protected rival, who did not want to risk and who seemed to be content with the minutes passing without too many surprises, although after five minutes the Frenchman
Nabil Fekir
did test goalkeeper
Ivan Nevistic
, this Thursday a novelty in goal to the detriment of
Danijel Zagorac
.
That attempt, and another one after half an hour by the Argentine central defender
Germán Pezzella
, was the only thing that Betis did in attack in the first half against a rival that did not worry the Portuguese goalkeeper
Rui Silva
either , despite the fact that he timidly tried on the counter when He had the opportunity.
Pellegrini
had time and the opportunity at half-time to correct some aspects of his team's game so that something else could be seen in the second half, although at the start there was not much change despite the fact that the American
Johnny Cardeso
had a chance on the edge. of match time.
After that play, the Chilean coach brought three fresh players onto the field in one fell swoop, the three from the first team who were on the bench -
Bellerín
,
Marc Roca
and
Assane Diao
- to look for that verticality and speed that was needed.
Penalty and drama
The reaction did not come, and even
Marko Bulat
gave a first warning with a shot with great intention in the 68th minute, but the surprise did appear shortly after when a penalty was awarded, at the request of VAR, for a handball by
Chadi Riad
.
Croatian international
Bruno Petkovic
converted the penalty into 0-1 and thus scored his fifth goal this season in European competitions, so much so that he now managed to wake up Betis to face the last quarter of an hour with more intensity.
Then came the siege of the green and white, with a shot against the post by Brazilian
Willian José included in the 87th minute, but not even the tie was achieved, so we now have to wait for the return leg, in which
Pezzella
will not be there
to see a yellow card with which he will be sanctioned for accumulation of warnings.