Easy half of the draw, but a long way to go.....
Mar 25, 2026
Europa League:
The last 14 winners of the Europa League have come from Italy, England , Germany and Spain, with the EPL and La Liga teams dominating. The two teams that I am keen on this time around are Real Betis and AS Roma.
The Seville club are coached by wily old Manuel Pellegrini and in his five seasons at the helm, Real have finished 6-5-6-7-6 and could probably record another top 6-7 placing in their sleep and that enables them to focus on the cups. They won the Copa del Rey in 2022 under the Chilean and he guided them to the Conference League final last season, where they led but lost to Chelsea and had beaten a strong and experienced European side in Fiorentina in the semi final. That experience will be invaluable, there is nothing as good as Chelsea in this year's Europa and they are very motivated after watching their biggest rival and cross town club, Sevilla, win SEVEN European titles since 2006. They look to have strengthened over the summer and the three toughest opponents they have to face are all at home where they get terrific support (third highest average attendance in La Liga last season) and they have to go well.
2 units Real Betis to win the Europa League outright @ 11.0-13.0 general quote, bigger in a few spots.
Update: Unfortunately Roma departed in the last round after looking like they had played their way on top of Bologna. Betis are in the quarter finals where they face Braga and then either Freiburg or Celta Vigo for a place in the final. That is definitely the easier half of the draw, so we, and they, can have few complaints. Domestically they are 5th, cannot be 4th and are three points ahead of Celta, so are very likely to return to Europe either way and will surely be all out to win the Europa League, they are well matched with Celta, both games this season ended 1-1, but hopefully that is a problem down the line. They trade at 6.0-6.5 as I type.
Good luck!
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