Real Betis vs Eintracht Frankfurt: UEFA Europa League background, form guide, previous meetings

With their sights set on reaching the 2022 UEFA Europa League final in their home city of Seville, Real Betis face stiff round of 16 opposition in the form of 2018/19 semi-finalists and former UEFA Cup winners Eintracht Frankfurt.

• During the autumn Betis finished runners-up to another German side, Bayer Leverkusen, in UEFA Europa League Group G with a game to spare. They then overcame Russian champions Zenit in the knockout round play-offs, a 3-2 win in St Petersburg preceding a goalless draw in Seville.

• Frankfurt came unbeaten through UEFA Europa League D, topping the section with 12 points ahead of Olympiacos, Fenerbahçe and Antwerp to qualify directly for the round of 16.

Previous meetings
• The clubs are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.

• Betis's unbeaten European record against German opposition (W3 D2), which includes aggregate successes in both of their two previous knockout ties, ended abruptly on Matchday 4 of this season's UEFA Europa League when Manuel Pellegrini's side lost 4-0 at Leverkusen – the club's joint heaviest defeat in UEFA competition. They had drawn the reverse fixture 1-1 in Seville a fortnight earlier, Borja Iglesias scoring their goal from the penalty spot.

• Frankfurt's first encounter with Spanish opposition was their historic 7-3 defeat by Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup final in Glasgow. However, they are unbeaten against Spanish opposition since then (W4 D1) and have yet to lose in Spain, winning on their first two visits before drawing the most recent encounter, 1-1 at Celta Vigo in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage. Their two-legged knockout record against Spanish clubs is W2 L0.

Form guide
Betis
• Betis ended the 2020/21 Spanish Liga campaign under new boss Pellegrini in sixth place to end a two-season absence from Europe and qualify for a third crack at the UEFA Europa League.

• The Seville club maintained their perfect record in the UEFA Europa League group stage by making it three qualifications out of three this term, though they were beaten to first place by Leverkusen. Betis took six points off Ferencváros (3-1 a, 2-0 h) and shared 12 goals with Celtic, winning 4-3 at home and losing 3-2 in Glasgow, though that second encounter, on Matchday 6, was academic as the final positions in the section had already been settled.

• Betis have reached the UEFA Europa League round of 16 once before, in 2013/14, but then went out on penalties to city rivals Sevilla after both clubs had won 2-0 away. Their only other knockout phase campaign, in 2018/19, lasted just two matches as they were defeated by Rennes in the round of 32 (3-3 a, 1-3 h).

• Betis are unbeaten in Seville in the UEFA Europa League group stage (W5 D4) but are yet to win at home in the competition's knockout phase, the recent goalless draw against Zenit making their overall record D2 L2. Indeed, they have won only one of their eight home games in springtime European competition (D3 L4) – 2-0 against AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup round of 32.

Frankfurt
• Having been absent from Europe in 2020/21, Eintracht returned for a third UEFA Europa League group stage campaign in four seasons – and fourth in all – thanks to their fifth-placed finish in the Bundesliga. Last summer they replaced coach Adi Hütter with another Austrian, Oliver Glasner, who was in charge of fourth-placed Wolfsburg last term.

• Eintracht have now qualified for the UEFA Europa League knockout phase on all of their four group stage appearances, notably reaching the semi-finals in 2018/19, when they were denied a place in the final only by a penalty shoot-out defeat against eventual winners Chelsea. They won all six of their group games that season – the only German club ever to achieve the feat – but managed just three this term, two against Olympiacos (3-1 h, 2-1 a) and one against Antwerp (1-0 a), in addition to three draws – 2-2 at home to Antwerp and 1-1 in both games against Fenerbahçe.

• The 1979/80 UEFA Cup winners are participating in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 for the third time. They edged past Inter at this stage in 2018/19 (0-0 h, 1-0 a) but were eliminated by Basel in 2019/20 (0-3 h, 0-1 a).

• Eintracht have won only one of their seven previous away fixtures in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase – that victory in Milan three seasons ago – but have drawn four of them. With two wins and a draw on their travels in this season's group stage, their all-time away record in the competition proper is W10 D5 L4.

UEFA Europa League squad changes
Betis
In: Joel Robles, Youssouf Sabaly
Out: Paul Akouokou, Martín Montoya, Rober González (Las Palmas, loan)

Frankfurt
In: Ragnar Ache, Ansgar Knauff (Borussia Dortmund, loan), Jens Grahl
Out: Erik Durm, Stefan Ilsanker, Giorgos Pontikou, Diant Ramaj

Links and trivia 
• Two members of Betis's squad have played in the Bundesliga – Andrés Guardado (Leverkusen 2014, loan) and Marc Bartra (Borussia Dortmund 2016–18).

• Eintracht's Colombian forward Rafael Borré spent 2016/17 on loan at Villarreal from fellow Liga club Atlético de Madrid, for whom he never made a first-team appearance.

• William Carvalho (Betis) and Gonçalo Paciência (Frankfurt) are fellow Portuguese internationals.

• Frankfurt are one of five clubs involved in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 that have previously lifted the trophy, in their case in its former guise as the UEFA Cup (1980).

• This is the only round of 16 tie between teams that both started their 2021/22 European campaign in the UEFA Europa League.