After knocking out Barcelona in the knockout stage play-offs, Manchester United face a third Spanish club in this UEFA Europa League campaign. It’s Real Betis, led by former Manchester City manager Manuel Peltelgrini, who are looking to reach the quarter-finals of European competition for just the third time.
During the fall, United finished second on goal difference behind Real Sociedad in UEFA Europa League Group E, despite having 15 points, a tally more than five group winners, but the English ousted Barcelona in February, a 2-2 draw at Camp Nou followed by a 2-1 win at Old Trafford with goals from Brazilian pair Fred and Antony.
Real Betis secured top spot in Group C with one game less to reach the UEFA Europa League round of 16 for the second consecutive season. Betis scored sixteen points, the highest tally of any team in the group stage.
Betis will be without Nabil Fekir, who suffered a serious knee injury in February.
Previous meetings
This is the first meeting of the two clubs in UEFA competition.
The recent win over Barcelona was just United’s 20th in 70 UEFA appearances against Spanish clubs and only the 12th in 32 home games.
The Red Devils have recorded just four wins in their last 15 encounters with Spanish visitors at Old Trafford, six defeats with each of the two preceding victory against Barca.
United’s last five European campaigns have all been interrupted by Spanish clubs, with Atlético de Madrid knocking them out in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 last season (1-1 away, 0-1 home).
United’s overall record in home and away European matches against Spanish sides is 9 qualifiers and 10 eliminations.
Betis have lost the first four of their six UEFA matches against English sides but are unbeaten in the last two, beating Chelsea 1-0 at home and drawing 0-0 away to Liverpool in the group stage of the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League.
The Andalusian team’s only previous knockout game against an English team ended in a loss to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the 1997/98 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (1-2 at home, 1-3 away), which the London side went on to win.
About the teams
Man United
United finished sixth in the Premier League last season, registering 58 points, their lowest tally in the Premier League, to qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage.
The English finished top of their 2021/22 UEFA Champions League group ahead of Villarreal, Atalanta and Young Boys, but were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Atlético under interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who was replaced as head coach this summer by Erik ten Hag.
Dutchman Ten Hag’s first European encounter as United manager ended in defeat against a Spanish side. The Red Devils lost their opening Group E encounter 0-1 at Old Trafford to Real Sociedad. However, they won their other five encounters, scoring twice against Sheriff (2-0 away, 3-0 at home) and Omonoia (3-2 away, 1-0 at home) before overthrowing the scoreline from matchday one in San Sebastián, where they needed to win by two or more goals to dislodge their opponents from first place.
Still, the win over Barcelona secured United’s sixth appearance in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16. The English have lost their first two matches at this stage, against Athletic Club in 2011/12 (2-3 home, 1-2 away) and Liverpool in 2015/16 (0-2 away , 1-1 at home), but have won the last three, against Rostov in 2016/17 (1-1 away, 1-0 at home), LASK in 2019/20 (5-0 away away, 2-1 home) and AC Milan in 2020/21 (1-1 home, 1-0 away).
United have reached the last four in each of their last three campaigns, winning the competition in 2016/17, reaching the semi-finals in 2019/20 against Sevilla and finishing runners-up in their last appearance in 2020 /21, when they lost in the final 11-10 on penalties against Villarreal after a 1-1 draw in Gdańsk.
United’s UEFA Europa League record at Old Trafford is 17 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses, with the opening matchday loss to Real Sociedad ending an 18-match unbeaten run.
Betis
Betis qualified for a fourth UEFA Europa League group stage under experienced manager Pellegrini last season, finishing fifth in the Spanish La Liga and winning the Copa del Rey for the third time and the first since 2004/05, thanks to a victory on penalties in the final against Valencia (1-1).
The Sevilla club’s last four European campaigns have all been in the UEFA Europa League. The Spaniards qualified for the knockout stage each time. They continued this season by taking the double against HJK Helsinki (2-0 away, 3-0 at home) and Ludogorets (3-2 at home, 1-0 away) and taking four points at Roma (2-1 away, 1-1 at home).
Last season, Betis finished second in their group behind Bayer Leverkusen, before eliminating Zenit in the play-offs (3-2 away, 0-0 at home) and losing in extra time in the round of 16. final against Eintracht Frankfurt, future winners (1-2 at home, 1-1 away). Betis’ only other round of 16 encounter also ended in defeat, against Sevilla FC in 2013/14.
Betis’ away record in all rounds of the UEFA Europa League is 10 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses, with no defeats in the last five matches and with wins in all three matches this season.
UEFA Europa League squad changes
Man United
In: Jack Butland (Crystal Palace, loan), Marcel Sabitzer (Bayern München, loan), Wout Weghorst (Burnley, loan)
Departures: Cristiano Ronaldo (released), Martin Dúbravka (Newcastle, end of loan), Charlie McNeill (Newport, loan), Shola Shoretire (Bolton, loan), Axel Tuanzebe (Stoke, loan)
Real Betis
Arrivées : Abner Vinícius (Athletico Paranaense), Ayoze Pérez (Leicester, prêt)
Departures: Paul Akouokou, Alex Moreno (Aston Villa)
We know each other…
Betis boss Pellegrini coached United rivals Manchester City between 2013 and 2016, winning the Premier League in 2013/14 as well as two League Cups (2013/14, 2015/16). He also had a second stint in England with West Ham United from May 2018 to December 2019. His Premier League record against Manchester United is 5 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses, including two at Old Trafford.
Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea, who started his career at Atlético before joining Old Trafford in 2011, is one of four players with La Liga experience in United’s squad. Raphäel Varane (2012-21) and summer signing Casemiro (2013/14, 2015-22) were both Real Madrid mainstays, while Anthony Martial spent the second half of last season on loan at Sevilla.
Likewise, four members of the Betis squad have played in England: Claudio Bravo (Manchester City 2016-20), Martín Montoya (Brighton 2018-20), Willian José (on loan Wolves 2021) and new loan signing Ayoze Pérez ( Newcastle 2014-19, Leicester 2019-23).
United defender Lisandro Martínez and two Betis players Germán Pezzella and Guido Rodríguez were all members of the Argentina squad that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Bruno Fernandes (United) and William Carvalho (Betis) played together at Sporting CP in 2017/18 and are team-mates in the Portugal national team with Diogo Dalot (United) and Rui Silva (Betis).
Ten Hag’s record in UEFA competition against Spanish clubs is now 5 wins, 1 draw, 4 defeats, which includes a momentous 4-1 victory for Ajax at Real Madrid in the second leg of the round of 16. 2018/19 UEFA Champions League final which eliminated the title-holders from the competition.
With four goals, United’s Marcus Rashford is joint top scorer in this season’s UEFA Europa League, group stage to final. Three other players share that total, although only one of them, Feyenoord’s Sebastián Giménez, is still active in the competition.
United are one of two former UEFA Europa League winners to make the round of 16, the other being four-time champions Sevilla. Four other teams – Bayer Leverkusen, Feyenoord, Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk, lifted the trophy as the UEFA Cup.