Real Betis have fallen into the third tier of European football after a desperately disappointing 3-2 defeat to Rangers at the Benito Villamarin on Thursday evening. That result means that Manuel Pellegrini’s side finished third in their Europa League group, meaning that they will be in the Europa Conference League next year.
Betis will surely be one of the favourites to win the competition, and that should be the aim for Pellegrini and his players. However, before that can be thought about, they must navigate the tricky knockout round, which will see them face one of the teams that placed second in the Europa Conference League group stages.
As per MD, Betis will face one of Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), Gent (Belgium), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Bodo-Glimt (Norway), Legia Warsaw (Poland), Ferencvaros (Hungary), Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany) or Ludogorets (Bulgaria). The Bundesliga side, who conquered Barcelona in 2021, would surely be the trickiest test.
Still, Real Betis would be confident of defeating whoever they play. The matches for the Europa Conference League knockout round are to take place on the 15th and 22nd of February.
