Football Season Guide

The 2017/18 season was Quique Setien’s first year at Real Betis and it was a successful one for the new coach, with the club finishing sixth and qualifying for the Europa League. They got stronger and stronger as the season went on, partly because of the helpful January signing of centre-back Marc Bartra and partly because the players grew increasingly comfortable with their coach’s possession-based philosophy. With Setien having had another pre-season to work with his squad, it is expected that Real Betis will thrive even more under the former Las Palmas coach in 2018/19. A positive transfer window has also ramped up expectations in the green and white half of Seville. While Real Betis were disappointed to lose up-and-coming midfield talent Fabian Ruiz to Napoli, they have been able to keep most of their key players, with those who have departed generally being part of an intended clear-out. In terms of arrivals, Real Betis have made some very eye-opening moves, bringing in the likes of William Carvalho, Takashi Inui and Sergio Canales. They’ve also completely changed their goalkeeping set-up, signing Joel Robles and Pau Lopez to replace Antonio Adan and Dani Gimenez. The fact that Real Betis will be involved in European competition and the fact that they’ll therefore have midweek football and travel to contend with must be taken into consideration when evaluating the club’s chances of having another positive league season. That said, their sporting department seem to have done a good job in terms of building squad depth, while the Real Betis academy is becoming more and more renowned and it wouldn’t be a disaster if Setien has to call upon some youth teamers for the odd game. There is genuine reason for Real Betis fans to feel optimistic right now, as they embark on the second season of the Quique Setien era.