Real Betis Balompié have matched their best-ever start to a La Liga season following a 1-1 draw away to Deportivo de La Coruña. The Seville-based club have taken 16 points from a possible 21, a tally they last achieved in the 2001/02 campaign under manager Juande Ramos.
With five wins, one draw and one defeat, Betis sit third in the La Liga table, five points behind leaders Barcelona. On Sunday, Cucho Hernández put the visitors ahead in the 43rd minute, but a late strike from Diego Villares seven minutes from time denied Betis all three points. The result extends the team's unbeaten run to five matches across all competitions, a sequence that includes victories over Real Madrid, Villarreal and Lille in the Champions League.
The club's finest start came in the 1934/35 season when Patrick O’Connell's side recorded six wins and one loss from their opening seven games. Under today's points system, that would equate to 18 points. The second-best opening was in 1963/64 under Domingo Balmanya, with five wins and two draws worth 17 points in the modern era. Therefore, the current 16-point haul represents the third-best beginning in the club's history.
After the international break, Betis will host Osasuna at La Cartuja on October 11. A win would take the team to 19 points, surpassing the mark set in 1934/35. That season, the side drew their eighth match and finished that phase with six wins, one draw and one defeat. The fixture against 13th-placed Osasuna presents a clear chance to make history.
The team heads into this period having scored nine goals and conceded seven. The last meeting between the sides, in April, ended in a 1-1 draw. With the squad in strong form, the objective is clear: keep accumulating points to stay in Champions League contention. The team's detailed progress and numbers are available in our stats section.
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