Scouting the enemy: everything you need to know about Real Betis
By Ben Sundock
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
I figured the best way to show what I mean when I say Real Betis has good passing when they have the ball would be to include the above tweet showing their first goal against Villarreal.
The first 15 seconds or so, you think the play isn’t going anywhere, then suddenly, the left back switches the field, two passes later, Sergio León has put the ball in the back of the net.
The passing is the first of their three strengths, the second is how good some of their players are in the air in the box. Case and point Sergio’s powerful goal above. Joaquín is another of course, as well as Cristian Tello.
These guys can jump and score, which is always a scary sight.
Their third in final strength is their goalkeeper, Adán.
He is very good at stopping close-range shots and did a very good job at shutting down Barca for most of the match (one of the two goals he allowed was an own goal).
Adán has average 1.8 saves in the penalty area through his first 4 starts, but his one weakness is his inability to stop long-range shots. He’s stopped just .3 shots that have come on goal from outside the area.
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Get ready to see Ronaldo tee a few up if he has the chance.
Weaknesses
The first note I made for the weaknesses section of this team is tight marking. Too many times did I see Leo Messi navigate or pass his way through a triangle of Real Betis players or dribble his way through a small gap between two players and then past some more.
As I said before, possession has been a problem for this team thus far. Not having the ball for at least 45 minutes a match will tire out anyone. What has happened because of this is in close matches, like at Villarreal, the midfield gets lazy and gets caught watching passes and watching players run past them.
If Real Madrid can control possession and simply work the ball around and tire out the Betis midfield, it could be a blowout.
The biggest and most disturbing weakness from Betis is their inability to win matches on the road, or for that matter, play well on the road. This season they have started out a poor 0-0-2 losing both matches by two goals.
Last season, they weren’t good either, going 5-6-8 and finishing with a -12 goal differential.
The Santiago Bernabéu is not a forgiving place to visitors, and it won’t be to Real Betis.
Next: Zinedine Zidane announces signing a new 3-year deal to stay with Real Madrid
Real Madrid will be craving their first win at home in the league this season tonight and there is no better time than this match against a sub-par Real Betis side. It should be fun watching Cristiano Ronaldo get back out there and try to bag lots of goals.