🏏 Sat, 29 Aug 2026 17:00 CEST
Levante UD
vs
Real Betis
4-1-4-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Levante have played both of their opening fixtures on the road, losing 3-0 at Espanyol and drawing 0-0 at Osasuna, and sit 17th on a single point. They have yet to score this season, so this first home game of the campaign is above all about finding the net. Real Betis arrive fifth on six points after two 1-0 wins, away at Valencia and at home to Real Sociedad, without conceding once. With Alaves leading on seven points from three matches, Betis have made exactly the start they wanted.
- Levante's back line is marshalled by 34-year-old Aissa Mandi against the club where he spent five seasons. The Algeria international came through Reims, made his name at Real Betis and later played for Villarreal, giving him a deep knowledge of both La Liga and this particular opponent. His aerial strength and reading of the game will be central to how Levante handle Betis' movement in the final third.
- There is a second reunion on the bench. Iker Losada, 25, spent time at Levante on loan from Betis and now sits among the visitors' substitutes. Raised in Celta Vigo's academy and a breakout performer at Racing Ferrol, he scored against Real Madrid on his La Liga debut, and would arrive against a club he knows from the inside if called upon.
- Betis have serious quality in the band behind the striker. Isco, 34, pulls the strings as the number 10 after winning four Champions League titles at Real Madrid, flanked by Brazil international Antony, who won back-to-back Eredivisie titles with Ajax before a 95 million euro move to Manchester United, and Rodrigo Riquelme, an Atletico Madrid academy product who broke through on loan at Girona and earned a Spain call-up. All three like to cut inside, which will stretch Levante's full-backs.
- The central battle looks decisive. Betis pair Marc Roca, the left-footed Espanyol graduate who has played for Bayern Munich and Leeds United, with 189cm Uruguayan Facundo Bernal, who arrived via Defensor Sporting and Fluminense. Levante counter with Jon Ander Olasagasti, a left-footed playmaker schooled at Real Sociedad, and 22-year-old Thiago Cruz, who came through Velez Sarsfield before spells at Villarreal and Oviedo.
- Betis have kept clean sheets in both league games so far. Marc Bartra, 35, brings La Masia technique and Borussia Dortmund experience alongside Natan, the 188cm left-footed Brazilian who came through Flamengo and joined from Napoli. At full-back, 31-year-old Hector Bellerin still provides the pace that defined his long Arsenal career, while 169cm Fran Garcia, a Real Madrid canterano who starred at Rayo Vallecano, pushes high on the left.
- Levante's search for a first goal runs through 172cm striker Ivan Romero. The 25-year-old was developed at Sevilla and moved permanently after a productive loan at Tenerife, thriving on runs in behind and instinctive finishing. Out wide, 29-year-old left-footed winger Brugui, hardened by spells at Gimnastic and Mirandes, offers the dribbling to unbalance a defence. Getting behind Betis' high line is their clearest route to a breakthrough.
- In goal Levante have Australia international Mat Ryan, 34, whose travels have taken him through Club Brugge, Valencia, Genk, Brighton, Arsenal and Real Sociedad, and whose reflexes and sweeping remain his calling cards. In front of him are Manu Sanchez, a left-footed Atletico Madrid academy full-back with several loan seasons at Osasuna behind him, and centre-back Dela, a Real Madrid youth graduate who arrived via Villarreal.
- Both benches could shape the closing stages. Levante can turn to 167cm left-footed creator Carlos Alvarez, 23, a Sevilla academy graduate, Cameroon forward Etta Eyong, who scored 19 goals for Villarreal B, and 32-year-old Jeremy Toljan of Hoffenheim, Dortmund and Sassuolo. Betis hold back Morocco winger Abde Ezzalzouli, formerly of Barcelona and Osasuna, Pablo Fornals of West Ham and Villarreal, and Cucho Hernandez, a star performer for Columbus Crew in MLS.