Known as “The Great Derby”, the rivalry between Real Betis Balompié and FC Sevilla had history of 100+ years, starting from the division between two social classes. Founded in 1890, FC Sevilla was the first team of Seville, but 17 years later, Sevilla Balompié came to life.
According to the local stories, Sevilla represents the rich and conservative part of Spain’s fourth city, while Real Betis had been formed once Sevilla refused to sign players from the working class (“barrios”), meaning it is the club of the people.
Sevilla leads in terms of achievements
Following a fierce rivalry, FC Sevilla is the team who managed to accomplish the most. With one La Liga title, five Copa del Rey, one Spanish Supercup, five UEFA Cup, and one UEFA Supercup, it is an icon of European football.
Real Betis, on the other hand, managed to win La Liga once as well and had managed to win the Copa del Rey only twice. Speaking of head-to-head matched, at the time of writing, Sevilla leads in La Liga, with 44 wins, 22 draws, and 29 defeats.
The statistics are against Betis even in the Copa del Rey, where “Los Verdiblancos” managed to win 4 matches, and got 5 draws, while Sevilla currently has 9 wins. In the UEFA Europa League things are balanced, with only two head-to-head matches and each managing to win one.
Throughout their longstanding rivalry, Real Betis had to suffer the most, enduring way more relegations and having to face tough periods of financial instability.
Could the situation balance from now on?
Despite being on the weak side, Betis seems to aim for much better results during the 2019/2020 season. Last year the club managed to reach the UEFA Europe League and got knocked out in the Round of 32 by Rennes.
Unexpected away victories against FC Barcelona and Real Madrid had ignited the fans’ enthusiasm, given that this season important changes took place at the team. The club recently announced the signing of a new important sponsorship with easyMarkets, an online trading provider.
The French World Cup winner Nabil Fekir had been brought from Lyon, replacing Giovani Lo Celso who joined Tottenham. The former Espanyol coach Joan Rubi is now leading the team and will have the hard task of steering Betis towards much better results, given that disappointment had arisen following the 10th place in the domestic league during the past season.
