Betis vs Man United facts

Manchester United appear to be in control of this UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie against Real Betis – their third Spanish opponents in the competition this season – after winning the first leg 4-1 at Old Trafford against a side that have never won at home in the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa League.

Betis, led by former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, secured top spot in Group C with a game to spare to reach the UEFA Europa League round of 16 for the second successive season. They registered 16 points – the most of any side in the group stage – and also had the biggest advantage over the runners-up, finishing six points clear of second-placed Roma.

During the autumn United were runners-up on goal difference to Real Sociedad in UEFA Europa League Group E despite registering 15 points – a tally greater than that of five section winners – but they got the better of Liga giants Barcelona in February, a 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou followed by a 2-1 comeback win at Old Trafford with Brazilian duo Fred and Antony scoring the decisive goals.

Previous meetings

The clubs met for the first time in UEFA competition on 9 March, and it was level at the interval after Marcus Rashford's fierce opener – his fifth goal of this season's UEFA Europa League – had been cancelled out by an equally fine strike from Betis's on-loan forward Ayoze Pérez. However, United broke free in the second half, scoring three further goals in front of the Stretford End, from Antony (another eye-catching strike), Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst, to run out 4-1 winners.

Betis lost the first four of their six UEFA matches against English teams but travelled to Old Trafford undefeated in two having beaten Chelsea 1-0 at home and drawn 0-0 away to Liverpool in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage – their sole season in that competition. The reverse fixtures had ended 1-2 at home to Liverpool and 0-4 at Chelsea.

The Andalusian side's only previous knockout tie against an English team resulted in defeat to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the 1997/98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1-2 h, 1-3 a), which the London side went on to win.

The win against Betis was nevertheless one of just 21 for United in 71 UEFA matches against Spanish opposition. Although they have won only six of their 31 games in Spain (D13 L12), three of those victories have come on their last five visits, with the other two games drawn, most recently 2-2 at the Camp Nou. Back in November they won 1-0 in San Sebastián against Real Sociedad thanks to Alejandro Garnacho's 17th-minute strike.

United's last five European campaigns have all been brought to an end by Spanish clubs, Atlético de Madrid eliminating them in last season's UEFA Champions League round of 16 (1-1 a, 0-1 h).

United's overall record in two-legged European ties against Spanish teams is now W9 L10.

Form guide

Betis

Betis qualified for a fourth crack at the UEFA Europa League group stage on two fronts under experienced head coach Pellegrini last season, finishing fifth in the Spanish Liga and also winning the Copa del Rey for the third time – and first since 2004/05 – with a penalty shoot-out success in the final against Valencia (1-1).

The Seville club's last four European campaigns have all been in the UEFA Europa League, and they have advanced to the knockout phase each time. They maintained that record this season by doing the double over both HJK Helsinki (2-0 a, 3-0 h) and Ludogorets (3-2 h, 1-0 a) and taking four points off Roma (2-1 a, 1-1 h).

Last season they finished second in their section behind Bayer Leverkusen, before edging out Zenit in the knockout play-offs (3-2 a, 0-0 h) then succumbing late in extra time of the round of 16 to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt (1-2 h, 1-1 a). Betis's only other round of 16 tie also ended in defeat, against city rivals Sevilla in 2013/14, when they won the first away leg 2-0 but lost by the same score at home and were then beaten on penalties.

While Betis are unbeaten at home in the UEFA Europa League group stage (W7 D5), their three knockout phase eliminations from the competition have all been triggered by home defeats. Indeed, they have yet to record a home victory in the competition's knockout rounds in five attempts (D2 L3).

Betis have lost three of the four previous UEFA ties in which they were defeated away in the first leg, including the one previous contest – and also the most recent of the four – in which they lost 4-1, against Bologna in the third round of the 1998/99 UEFA Cup. Their one aggregate success came in the first round of that same campaign, when they overturned a 0-1 defeat at Danish side Vejle with a 5-0 victory in Seville.

Man United

United finished sixth in the English top flight last season, registering 58 points – their lowest ever Premier League tally – to qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage. They topped their 2021/22 UEFA Champions League section ahead of Villarreal, Atalanta and Young Boys, but were eliminated in the last 16 by Atlético under interim boss Ralf Rangnick, who was replaced as head coach in the summer by Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman's first European encounter as United boss also ended in defeat by Spanish opposition as the Red Devils lost their opening Group E encounter 0-1 at Old Trafford to Real Sociedad. However, they won all of their other five fixtures, doing the double over both Sheriff (2-0 a, 3-0 h) and Omonoia (3-2 a, 1-0 h) before reversing that Matchday 1 scoreline in San Sebastián, when they needed to win by two or more goals to unseat their opponents from top spot.

Still, the victory over Barcelona clinched United's sixth participation in the UEFA Europa League round of 16. They lost their first two ties at this stage – to Athletic Club in 2011/12 (2-3 h, 1-2 a) and Liverpool in 2015/16 (0-2 a, 1-1 h) – but have won the last three – against Rostov in 2016/17 (1-1 a, 1-0 h), LASK in 2019/20 (5-0 a, 2-1 h) and AC Milan in 2020/21 (1-1 h, 1-0 a). Indeed, United have made it through to the last four in each of their last three campaigns, winning the competition in 2016/17, going out in the semi-finals in 2019/20, to Sevilla, and finishing as runners-up on their last appearance in 2020/21, when they lost the final 11-10 on penalties to Villarreal after a 1-1 draw in Gdańsk.

United are unbeaten in seven European away games (W4 D3), four of those in Spain (W2 D2). Their record in UEFA Europa League knockout phase away fixtures is W7 D4 L4 with no defeats in nine until they lost 3-2 at Roma in the second leg of a 2020/21 semi-final that they won 8-5 on aggregate. Only once in those 15 away games have they failed to score – against Liverpool at Anfield seven years ago.

United have been victorious on aggregate in 20 of the 25 previous UEFA competition ties in which they won the first leg at home, the most recent success that UEFA Europa League semi-final against Roma two years ago, when they were 6-2 winners at Old Trafford. One of the five eliminations, however, came on the sole previous occasion that they won the first home leg 4-1 – a 1963/64 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final against Sporting CP in which they lost the return 5-0 in Lisbon, a defeat that remains the Manchester club's heaviest in UEFA competition.

UEFA Europa League squad changes

Real Betis

In: Abner Vinícius (Athletico Paranaense), Ayoze Pérez (Leicester, loan)
Out: Paul Akouokou, Álex Moreno (Aston Villa)

Man United

In: Jack Butland (Crystal Palace, loan), Marcel Sabitzer (Bayern München, loan), Wout Weghorst (Burnley, loan)
Out: Cristiano Ronaldo (released), Martin Dúbravka (Newcastle, end loan), Charlie McNeill (Newport, loan), Shola Shoretire (Bolton, loan), Axel Tuanzebe (Stoke, loan)

Links and trivia 

Betis boss Pellegrini coached United's city rivals Manchester City between 2013 and 2016, winning the Premier League in 2013/14 as well as two League Cups (2013/14, 2015/16). He also had a second spell in England with West Ham United from May 2018 to December 2019. His Premier League record against Manchester United was W5 D1 L3.

Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea, who started his career with Atlético before moving to Old Trafford in 2011, is one of four players with Liga experience in United's squad. Raphäel Varane (2012–21) and summer signing Casemiro (2013/14, 2015–22) were both Real Madrid stalwarts, while Anthony Martial spent the second half of last season on loan at Sevilla.

Likewise, four members of the Betis squad have played in England: Claudio Bravo (Manchester City 2016–20), Martín Montoya (Brighton 2018–20), Willian José (Wolves 2021 loan) and new loan signing Pérez (Newcastle 2014–19, Leicester 2019–23).

Betis duo Germán Pezzella and Guido Rodríguez and United defender Lisandro Martínez were all members of the Argentina squad that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Betis’s William Carvalho and United's Bruno Fernandes played together for Sporting CP in 2017/18 and are national team-mates for Portugal along with Rui Silva (Betis) and Diogo Dalot (United).

Varane, Martial and Betis midfielder Nabil Fekir have all played for France.

Ten Hag's record in UEFA competition against Spanish clubs is now W6 D1 L4, which includes a momentous 4-1 win for Ajax at Real Madrid in the second leg of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League round of 16 that knocked the holders out of the competition.

With five goals Rashford is the joint leading scorer in this season's UEFA Europa League, group stage to final, alongside Victor Boniface of Union Saint-Gilloise.

Bruno Fernandes's goal in the first leg was his 20th in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final. He is the tenth player to have reached that tally.

Weghorst's goal against Betis was United's 100th in the UEFA Europa League proper. Only 15 other clubs have managed a century in the competition.

United are one of two former UEFA Europa League winners competing in the round of 16, the other four-time champions Sevilla. Four other teams – Bayer Leverkusen, Feyenoord, Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk – lifted the trophy as the UEFA Cup.

Penalty shoot-outs

Betis's record in two UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W0 L2:
3-5 v Universitatea Craiova, 1984/85 UEFA Cup first round
3-4 v Sevilla, 2013/14 UEFA Europa League round of 16

Manchester United's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L3:
4-5 v Videoton, 1984/85 UEFA Cup quarter-final
3-4 v Torpedo Moskva, 1992/93 UEFA Cup first round
6-5 v Chelsea, 2007/08 UEFA Champions League final
10-11 v Villarreal, 2020/21 UEFA Europa League final