Real Betis starts friendly campaign with win against Queretaro.

Real Betis opened their two-game series in Mexico with a 2-0 win against Queretaro. While Queretaro had a good start and was the better team in the first half, they deflated with all the substitutions in the second while Betis improved. For Betis’s Mexican young star Diego Lainez, he started the game and looked active in the 45 minutes he played. Meanwhile, Andres Guardado made his preseason debut for Betis when he was subbed on at the start of the second period but came out after 20 minutes.

In the first half, it was a close even match, with Queretaro taking control of the game because of their better form against the preseason mode of Betis. Queretaro had the first chance when an Alex Perez header came just wide from the post. Queretaro then came close again when Akia Loba looked to have been dropped in the area but not call was made. The ball fell to a Queretaro attacker but he shot the ball straight to Betis’ Goalkeeper, Dani Martin’s hand. Queretaro continued to dominate and create danger, especially through Fabian Castillo.

Betis had their best chance when Queretaro’s keeper, Gil Alcala blocked a shot from a Betis attacker and it fell to Diego Lainez. But Lainez was too slow in releasing the shot and two defenders from Queretaro were able to block it.

Betis picked it up after that but Queretaro had a good header blocked by a defender. Omar Arellano then came close with a left footed shot that went wide.

Sergio Canales then answered back with a left footed shot that went wide and should’ve been a corner kick but the referee didn’t see it.

With Andres Guardado being subbed, while Lainez was taken off, the second half started with Queretaro having more of the possession but not looking as dangerous. Betis had their best chance when Calderon looked to have gone past the keeper before his shot got deflected off the line by a Queretaro defender.

The game became very even and the subs started to slow down the game. Guardado only played 20 minutes before coming out for the debut of Real Betis’ big signing of the summer, World Cup champion Nabil Fekir.

Finally, after a good combination play by Betis, Emerson was able to get off the shot to open the scoring of the game.

Betis livened up and were close to getting another when a deflected shot from Christian Tello almost fell to the upper corner. A couple of minutes later, Wilfrid Kaptoum was allowed the space to get off a great shot to score the 2-0. A weak effort from the Queretaro defense and a great play by Kaptoum ended with a great goal and finished off Queretaro.

The last minutes had Betis getting a lot closer to a third than Queretaro of getting their first.

The game was a good debut for Betis in Mexico, with a bigger crowd than expected for a preseason game. They played well at times and got a good result in a new opportunity as they start to try opening international markets like Mexico. On Sunday, they will play against Puebla, who is the Mexican team who has the week off now that there is 19 teams in Liga MX. Meanwhile, Queretaro will have a second road game as they travel to Tijuana to face Xolos, who were just eliminated from the Leagues Cup against LA Galaxy.