Deportivo lose to Betis on new coach Seedorf’s debut
MADRID: Former Netherlands midfielder Clarence Seedorf made a losing start to his latest coaching role when Deportivo La Coruna was beaten 1-0 by Real Betis on Monday.
Deportivo, who have now gone eight matches without a win, dropped further into the relegation zone.
Seedorf was not able to bring much of an improvement and his team was jeered off at the end by the home crowd.
“It’s normal. The players have to be able to accept the criticism,” Seedorf said. “We have to look at the things that we did well. We were well organised and showed our competitiveness.
“It was a difficult match against a team that plays very well. Everybody is disappointed with the result but we are convinced that things have changed.”
It was Deportivo’s sixth l oss i n eight games, leaving the club second from bottom in the standings with 17 points from 23 matches, three points from safety.
“I think we showed something different today,” Deportivo defender Raul Albentosa said. “We created more chances than we did in the last three matches together. We had our opportunities but we couldn’t capitalise on them. We just have to keep working hard.”
Betis went up to eighth place after Loren Moron scored the only goal with a closerange shot following a low cross by Junior Firpo in the 54th minute.
“It’s difficult to evaluate Seedorf after a game against a team like ours, which already has very clear ideas and concepts,” Betis coach Quique Setien said. “We played a very complete game.”
Seedorf, who was previously in charge of AC Milan in 2014 and a second-division club in China in 2016, replaced Cristobal Parralo at Deportivo.
Deportivo’s next match is at Alaves on Saturday while Betis host defending champions Real Madrid on Sunday.
Barcelona have a seven-point lead over Atletico Madrid at the top. Valencia are third, 16 points off the lead and one in front of Real Madrid.