GIRONA VS BETIS PREVIEW & PREDICTION
We start the 32nd round of play in La Liga right away, because with the meeting between Girona and Real Betis two distinguished tastemakers will face each other on Friday-evening. So it promises to be a great football evening at the Montilivi!
Girona:
Girona fell hard last weekend because of its pink cloud, because on visiting Real Sociedad the Catalans went up no less than 5-0. “We were nowhere in the world today,” trainer Pablo Machin had also seen. ‘Hopefully it was the first and the last time we hit such a mud figure.’
With that hefty slip in San Sebastian, Girona did bad business in the fight for European football, because it left a golden opportunity to grab the seventh place. The fact that the PhD student is so good at it is mainly due to the excellent results in his own Montilivi, where the team with six wins and a draw already seven home matches in a row is unbeaten. The big question, however, is to what extent Girona has already dealt with the dribble of last weekend on Friday evening. Earlier this season, the Catalans visited Eibar (4-1), FC Barcelona (6-1) and Real Madrid (6-3), also against strong defeats. Only after the election against FC Barcelona did the Catalans immediately wash their bitter aftertaste in the following round with a victory. At home against Celta de Vigo, Cristian Portu then qualified for the only goal of the game. The attacker, who this season forms a king’s couple with Cristhian Stuani, broke his contract this week. Portu had already extended his contract last summer, but due to his strong season he can of course count on the necessary interest. The transfer clause, which is mandatory in Spain, will undoubtedly be strengthened in his new contract.
Real Betis:
Real Betis has the taste. The Andalusians booked their fourth victory in a row last weekend at the expense of Eibar (2-0) and are fifth in pole position in the fierce battle for a starting ticket for the Europa League. ‘We are in our best phase of the season,’ according to right back Antonio Barragan. ‘Hopefully we can continue this form until the end of the season.’
Real Betis does indeed excellent. Before the winter break, the team still wanted to run into the proverbial knife, but since the wintry coming of defender Marc Bartra and some tactical conversions from trainer Quique Setien, it now has found the right balance between attack and defense. The fact that Real Betis already managed to keep the three in a row in a row would have been almost unthinkable six months ago. Real Betis is also doing well in attacking terms, because with Sergio Leon, Loren Moron and Ruben Castro, Setien has three full-fledged center strikers. Tonny Sanabria would also belong to that list, were it not that he will probably no longer take action this season due to injury.
PREDICTION: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.84
