The Spanish does not end its passion

BarcelonaFor Christians, Holy Saturday is a day of silence and waiting, prior to the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, after his passion and death. For the parakeets, devoted and suffering like few others, yesterday was more or less the same. They trusted that after 12 matchdays without knowing victory, they would find triumph again in Seville, where these holy days are lived intensely. It was an act of faith. They didn't achieve it, but at least they took a point of merit against a Betis fighting for the Champions League (0-0). Furthermore, without conceding; they hadn't managed that since mid-December and this was one of their coach's main obsessions. That said, the statistics are frightening: this year the blue-and-whites have still not won and have accumulated five points out of 39 in 2026. And next Saturday they visit the Camp Nou.Reinforced by the club during the international break, Manolo González gave Roberto Fernández the starting spot over the veteran Kike García. Pol Lozano also broke into the lineup, accompanied in midfield by Urko González and Edu Expósito, with the aim of containing a Betis that, as expected, became master and lord of the ball from the start. For almost half an hour of play, the Andalusians' possession - exceeding 70% - was sterile; they made it run from one side to another, without speed or depth... until they found a crack in the blue-and-white defense and Ruibal made Dmitrovic shine.

Dmitrovic, savior

The striker from Sallent received a death pass from fellow Catalan Bellerín and, after a point-blank shot, crashed against the legs of the 'periquito' goalkeeper. First miracle from the Serbian, lately used to making meritorious saves. Minutes later he prevented the goal again: with his right hand he deflected a half-hearted header from Altimira that was heading into the net. Betis, also in need of a win after five winless games, was clearly imposing themselves. A deflected shot from Cyril Ngonge confirmed that Espanyol, unable to make more than three consecutive passes, were still there. On the bench, Manolo González looked angry.

The scolding from the Galician at halftime did the 'blanquiazules' good, as they came out of the locker room with a different attitude. Even so, ten minutes later the 'periquito' coach decided to substitute Kike García for Roberto, who had fought for everything but had touched very little. Manolo's plan required holding back the local onslaughts and trying to catch them on the counter-attack. And Expósito, with a shot from afar that Valles deflected, was on the verge of satisfying it: Espanyol's first shot on goal, in the 65th minute.

A shot from midfield by Bartra that went just wide and a couple of individual plays by Abde, who came on for a missing Antony, warned Espanyol: they would have to sweat to get something from La Cartuja. They were lucky that Pablo García's shot, on one of the first balls he touched, hit the crossbar. It was the clearest chance for a Betis unable to break down the wall of an Espanyol that once again kept a clean sheet, reminiscent of that granite-like team that established itself in the European zone, and, if it weren't for the fact that they haven't won since December 22nd last year, they would have had reasons to celebrate the draw. Be that as it may, they are one point closer to staying up.