Betis shine against a very poor Madrid

If Barça were poor against Real Sociedad, a game which they won with a fortunate late penalty, Madrid were even worse at the Villamarín.

Betis were the better side for practically the whole game, guided by good organisation and several brilliant performances from the likes of Canales, Fekir, Joaquín and Guardado, to name a few. Each player fulfilled his duty. Quite the opposite of Real Madrid’s players, who did not apply themselves and played with an air of complacency.

Zidane put Militao at right back and that plan backfired as the Portuguese defender’s game progressively got worse. Betis took advantage of that and as the game progressed the home side threw themselves more and more at Madrid.

Militao was the worst, but several others came close. With such clear superiority, it was inevitable that Betis would take the lead, and, in fact, the opening goal came later than they deserved. Madrid had the luck of being awarded a penalty deep into injury time in the first half. Ramos left it to Benzema, who was in desperate need of a goal, and the Frenchman converted to draw the game level.

You would have thought that this misfortunate would sink Betis, but it was not case. They grew stronger against a Madrid side whose performance was unacceptable. Zidane tried to shake things up by bringing on Mariano for Kroos. Madrid, then, reorganised into a 4-4-2, deploying two wingers, but it had little effect.

Betis continued creating chances and scored the winning goal against a flustered Madrid side that did not win its first corner until the 85th minute. Madrid launched a surprise attack in search of a precious draw that would absolve them of their sins. But they couldn’t get it and they didn't deserve it. Betis will take this result as a godsend, while for Madrid it was a hammer blow.