Conference League | Knockout Round Playoffs | 2nd Leg

Feb 20, 2025 at 5.45pm UK

Estadio Benito Villamarin

Real Betis vs Gent

(agg: 3-0)

Match preview

Betis are on the verge of setting up a last-16 tie against Chelsea or Vitoria de Guimaraes after a dominant performance in the first leg of their knockout play-off tie with Gent.

After a goalless first half, Manchester United loanee Antony opened the scoring within two minutes of the restart before Cedric Bakambu and Sergi Altimira completed a 3-0 win.

Los Verdiblancos repeated that performance against 10-man Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday, with Antony netting his third goal for Betis before substitute Marc Roca scored twice in a five-minute spell to seal a comfortable victory that lifted Manuel Pellegrini's side up to eighth in the table.

The result ended Betis' five-game home winless streak in La Liga and marked their first league victory at the Benito Villamarin since beating Atletico Madrid at the end of October.

In contrast to their league form, Los Verdiblancos have had no problem winning at home in the Conference, having won three of their four home games in the D1 competition this season.

They will be confident of defending their considerable first-leg advantage, especially as they have lost by three goals or more in just one of their 37 competitive matches this season, a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona in the Copa del Rey last month.

Gent are in the knockout stages of the Conference League for the third consecutive season after finishing 17th in the league, two points behind 15th-placed Betis.

The Belgian side reached the quarter-finals in 2022-23 before being knocked out by Maccabi Tel Aviv in the play-off round last season.

They are now on the brink of another play-off exit after suffering their first home defeat of the 2024-25 Conference League campaign.

Gent avoided another defeat in their league match against Beerschot on Sunday, coming from 2-1 down to win 3-2 at home thanks to two Dante Vanzeir penalties.

They will now travel to Spain dreaming of a miracle, made all the more unlikely by the fact that they have won just one of their last 14 competitive away matches (D7, L6).

The visitors will be buoyed by the fact that they have twice won by three goals in this season's Conference League, beating Vikingur 3-0 away in qualifying before repeating the scoreline at home to TSC in the league.

Recent Performance

Real Betis Conference League form:DWLWWW

Real Betis form (all competitions):LWDLWW

Gent Conference League form:WWLWLL

Gent form (all competitions):DDWDLW

Team News

Betis will be without Roca and Giovani Lo Celso after the pair picked up foot and hamstring injuries in the win over Real Sociedad.

Los Verdiblancos will also be without Hector Bellerin, William Carvalho, Angel Ortiz and Pablo Fornals.

Winter signing Cucho Hernandez is not available after being left out of Betis' squad for the knockout rounds of the La Liga competition.

The visitors have dropped Aime Omgba, Andrew Hjulsager and Max Dean from their Conference League list due to injury.

Tom Vandenberghe and Samuel Kotto have also been left out of Gent's European squad, while Noah Fadiga is currently unavailable for selection.

Defender Jordan Torunarigha is back in contention after being suspended for Saturday's league win over Beerschot.

Possible starting lineup

Real Betis possible starting lineup:

Vieites; Sabaly, Bartra, Natan, Perraud; Altimira, Cardoso; Antony, Avila, Ezzalzouli; Bakambu

Gent possible starting lineup:

Roef; Mitrovic, Watanabe, Torunarigha; Samoise, Ito, Lopes, Brown; Kums; Vanzeir, Gudjohnsen