He Betis This Thursday begins an unprecedented journey in its history. Third consecutive campaign in Europe. The actual name of this achievement is Manuel Pellegrini, which continues to surpass records in green and white. In Glasgow he becomes the Betic coach with the most appearances in continental competitions. He reaches this date at the same time Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, both 18, and in this group stage they will distance themselves from living alone in first place. This is a consequence of the club’s good performance in recent seasons and its stabilization in the European places.
Serra Ferrer added 18 continental games to the 263 officials he led in two legs against Betis. In the first season (1994-1997) he collected six games in the UEFA Cup. In the second (2004-2006) there were twelve Champions League and UEFA. Their record is nine wins, three draws and six defeats. Pellegrini has now managed to surpass these records by managing Betis in just 152 games. His numbers in Europe are very similar to Serra’s, although the Chilean has only managed the Verdiblancos so far Europe League (ten games in 2021-22 and eight in 2022-23): nine wins, four draws and five setbacks. Of course, over the course of his career, Pellegrini has played a total of 120 European games between Villarreal, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Real Betis in the Champions League, UEFA Europa League and Intertoto.
Behind them are Quique Setien (8 in the Europa League), Pepe Mel (7 in the Europa League), Rafael Iriondo (6 in the Cup Winners’ Cup), Luis Aragonés (6 in the Cup Winners’ Cup), Víctor Fernández (6 in the UEFA) , Gabriel Humberto Calderón (4 in the Europa League), Vicente Cantatore (3 in the UEFA), Javier Clemente (3 in the UEFA), Luis Hon (2 in the Fairs Cup), Antal Dunai (2 in the UEFA), Pepe Alzate (2 in the UEFA) and Juan Carlos Garrido (1 in the Europa League).
They have been so far 86 continental games Add to this at least the six that the Verdiblancos have already guaranteed for the 2023-24 season and that will extend Pellegrini’s records, presumably with favorable results according to the group that the Betis have received with rivals such as Glasgow Rangers, Sparta Prague and Aris Limassol. It is also noticeable that Betis will certainly add 42 continental games throughout the season since 2013/14 Manuel Ruiz de Lopera there were 36. With Ángel Haro and José Miguel López Catalán There will be at least 32 in the front with this campaign. A third of the total in the club’s history, highlighting a very important cycle to achieve its goals.
In LaLiga in the First Division, Pellegrini is still far from reaching the finish line 197 parties which Serra added in five seasons, two of which included 42 games (1995-96 and 1996-97). The Chilean has 119 so far, ten of them Pepe Mel (129) already eleven of them Ferenc Szusza (130), which he will surpass in this campaign to be within reach of the Balearic Islands in 2024/25 and beat him if he fulfills his contract signed until 2026. Of course, he is the only one of these historic Betis coaches who has never coached the team. Green and white team in the second.
In this recurring period for Betis in Europe, players have also stood out in the club’s historical data. For example, he is the top goalscorer in the Europa League for the Verdiblancos Lo Celso, who scored five goals in the 2018/19 season alone. Borja Iglesias and Fekir, both with four, like Alfonso, Alexis and Canales, can take him further this season. As a footballer with the most games, Joaquín is far from the one with 32, but the second is William Carvalho (tied with Canales on 22) and behind him are Guardado (17) and Aitor and Guido (16 each).
Betis’ improvement in UEFA coefficient
This constant continental presence has allowed Betis to increase its UEFA coefficient by leaps and bounds in recent years. In the last ten seasons, the Verdiblancos have accumulated 49,000 points and are only bettered by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla, Villarreal and Valencia. However, it is very close to Real Sociedad, who are competing in the Champions League this season. The 12,000 points the Green and Whites collected in 2013-14 will be added to the 10,000 points in 2018-19, the 11,000 points in 2021-22 and the 16,000 points in 2022-23. A regularity in Europe that aims to be as stable as possible in the coming campaigns. Their results in this course will be added to this concept, which will allow the Beticos to place better in the draws within the framework of the last five seasons played.
And the club coefficients are based on the results of the last five seasons of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. The rankings determine the seedings for the continental competition draws. Thus, Betis, which has integrated Pot 2 for the Europa League (Glasgow Rangers was in 1, Sparta Prague in 3 and Aris Limassol in 4), this result allows it to face more accessible rivals and also obtain greater economic resources.
