The Europa League had an exciting day with the participation of several Spanish teams. Betis and Villarreal embarked on their respective clashes in the competition. In both matches, a minute of silence was observed in memory of the victims of the earthquake in Morocco and the floods in Libya before the match.
Villarreal had a difficult start to the Europa League group stage, losing 2-0 to Panathinaikos on their visit to Athens. The match revealed persistent problems in the game of the Castellón players, which have contributed to the change in their coaching staff. Despite the arrival of the new coach, José Rojo ‘Pacheta’, there was no significant improvement in Villarreal’s performance. The ‘groguets’ struggled to create attacking opportunities and showed defensive weaknesses against a Panathinaikos side that broke a streak of 16 games without beating a Spanish team.
Villarreal’s best chance came when Morales made a great personal move after eluding his marker, but chose to shoot instead of passing to two teammates who were in position to score.
The injury to Denis Suárez, replaced by Yeremy Pino, destabilized Villarreal, and Panathinaikos took the opportunity to take the lead just before the break. A lucky rebound allowed Kotsiras to pass through the Villarreal defense for Ionannidis to score with a subtle touch. Villarreal tried to react, but their predictable play made their progress difficult, and only at the beginning of the second half did they seem to go on the attack. After the second goal, Villarreal could not recover, and Panathinaikos was close to scoring a third goal with clear opportunities.
The match was played at the Oaka Spyros Louis Olympic Stadium in Athens in front of around 53,000 spectators.
Besides. Real Betis suffered a 1-0 defeat against Rangers in Glasgow in their Europa League debut. Despite a promising start, the Andalusian team could not maintain its dominance, allowing the Scottish team to take the victory thanks to a goal from Abdallah Sima in the 67th minute.
Betis were looking to recover from their painful 5-0 league defeat against Xavi Hernández’s Barça, but found themselves up against a Rangers team that, although not the same team that won the Scottish league two years ago, proved to be a difficult opponent.
Manuel Pellegrini’s team started the game controlling possession and had a few chances, but Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland was up to the task to prevent Betis’ goals. The only goal of the game came in the 67th minute, when Abdallah Sima took advantage of a rebound after a great save by Bravo and scored. It was only then that Betis reacted and Pellegrini made changes to his lineup to look for an equalizer. The Andalusians pressed in the final minutes, but could not equalize the score before the final whistle.
Despite the defeat, Betis are still considered favorites to advance in group C, which also includes Aris Limassol and Sparta Prague. The match was played at Ibrox Park in front of around 50,000 spectators, including nearly 500 green and white fans.
