Mel laments Betis’ lack of strikers

Pepe Mel rued the fact his Real Betis team was short on strikers in the 1-0 Europa League defeat at Lyon.

A 66th minute strike from substitute Bafetimbi Gomis was enough to down the Andalusians at the Stade de Gerland, although Betis have still qualified for the next round of the competition.

“We have four strikers and three of them are injured,” Mel told the post-match Press conference.

“Furthermore, Salva [Sevilla] was under the weather and Cedrick had to come off because he was vomiting.

“When you have to put a youngster [Pepelu] in because we have nobody else, then in that respect things are not right.

“We also had nobody on the wings so we had to make use of what we had at our disposal. Having the ball does not guarantee you will create chances.

“Let’s see if we can get some players back because Juan Carlos, [Jorge] Molina, [Ruben] Castro, [Antonio] Amaya and [Alvaro] Vadillo are all out injured.”

Having had a decent shout for a penalty turned down towards the end, Mel believed it was another sign things are going against his team.

“Referees’ decisions are nothing new and we have not been getting any luck, especially in the League. But speaking of luck we’ve not had much since the season started.

“However, qualification leaves us satisfied. We are optimistic and still in the draw, but right now we want to do well in La Liga and be at least four places above where we are now.”

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