Real Madrid defeated Cadiz on Wednesday night at the Estadio Ramon de Carranza, and they will now head home to face Real Betis on La Liga’s Matchday 32 this Saturday night. Los Blancos barely defeated Betis 3-2 on Matchday 2 this season, and they lost to Los Verdiblancos in the second half of the 2019-2020 season.
So although Real have one eye fixed on their upcoming Champions League semifinal fixture against Chelsea, they know they need to put in a strong 90 minutes to get all three points against a very good Betis side.
Here are three key players to watch on the visitors this weekend.
LW Cristian Tello
We begin with a former Barcelona man, Cristian Tello. The Real Betis left winger has started in the past three matches after mostly being a backup for Manuel Pellegrini, and he’s looked pretty impressive. Tello scored a tremendous goal a couple of weeks ago as Los Verdiblancos took points off Atletico Madrid, and WhoScored.com also credited the 29-year-old with three key passes.
Since Nabil Fekir has been suspended, Tello becomes even more important to Betis in terms of his ability to create and score goals in the final third. Although he is an inconsistent player, Tello is talented and could be a difference-maker against Real Madrid.
CM Sergio Canales
Now it’s time to discuss a former Real Madrid player. With Fekir out, there is no doubt that Sergio Canales is Betis’ best player. He has been one of the standouts of the season in La Liga this campaign, shining from the beginning of the season to the last few matches.
Canales had a Man of the Match display against Valencia in a recent 2-2 draw, scoring a wondergoal from range after a little bit of set piece trickery while also registering a pair of key passes. The 30-year-old leads Los Verdiblancos with eight goals and two key passes per game. He is one of La Liga’s foremost creators and will command extra attention from Real Madrid’s midfielders.
RB Emerson
The talented Emerson did not have an ideal game against Real Madrid earlier this season, as his sending-off for a challenge on Luka Jovic helped Los Blancos pick up the full three points. But before that error, Emerson did cause some problems for the Madrid defense.
Just 22 years old, Emerson is already one of La Liga’s best right backs and is definitely the most exciting. He is always looking to move up the pitch for Betis, and he recently had a strong game against Atletico Madrid.
Betis will want to take points off another La Liga title contender and further cement themselves as a tough team in the league. In order to do that, Emerson’s runs up the pitch and strength in the tackle will be important. Emerson has been one of Betis’ top performers this season, though he can sometimes be exploited by strong attacking sides because he’s always so involved in his own team’s attack.