Real Betis Balompié's unbeaten start to the LaLiga season came to a crashing halt with a 5-2 defeat away to Levante. Manager Manuel Pellegrini pulled no punches in his assessment, telling outlet La Tercera that defensively, his team was "a disaster".
What went wrong with Betis's defense?
The defensive collapse was the defining feature of the loss. Betis, who had kept two clean sheets in their opening two league games, shipped five goals in a single match. Pellegrini pointed out that the goals conceded came from set pieces, an area his team failed to handle. Despite going into halftime level at 2-2, the Andalusian side fell apart in the second half, conceding three more goals and allowing Levante further clear chances.
The Chilean coach dismissed the idea that the personnel were the issue. He fielded a back line of Héctor Bellerín, Marc Bartra, Natan, and new signing Fran García, a unit that played together in preseason and kept a clean sheet in the first away match. "The truth is it's hard to find an explanation for why we dropped off so much in those last 30 minutes," Pellegrini admitted. His analysis was clear: the failure was in performance, not in the names on the team sheet.
How does this defeat impact the season?
The loss in Valencia has an immediate effect on the standings. Before the match, Real Betis sat in a comfortable fifth place with six points from two wins, just one point behind leaders Alaves. This setback halts their positive momentum and leaves them with two goals scored and five conceded, turning a +2 goal difference into -3. The defeat comes during a demanding schedule, with the team facing eight matches in 27 days, a workload that makes rotation logical to maintain physical condition, as Pellegrini explained.
The manager also dismissed high temperatures, in a match played at a less-than-ideal time, as a decisive factor, stating it affects both teams equally. The priority now is to regroup quickly, especially with key players like Aitor Ruibal, Diego Conde, Giovani Lo Celso, and Gonzalo Petit currently sidelined, whose absences are felt in the squad.
What's next for Betis?
The schedule offers no respite and the next challenge could not be bigger. Real Betis will host third-placed Real Madrid at the Benito Villamarín on September 4th. This fixture, which you can find on our fixtures page, represents an immediate opportunity to restore pride and prove the Levante collapse was a one-off. The team's reaction will be vital to not lose pace in a tightly-contested early season league where every point matters. Fans will expect a strong response at home against one of the toughest opponents to demonstrate that the solidity shown at the start of the campaign was not a fluke.
