Betis win to stay in race for Champions League

Place in Europa League guaranteed after defeating last-placed Malaga 2-1 in La Liga

Real Betis defeated lastplace Malaga 2-1 in La Liga on Monday to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the Uefa Champions League.

Betis’ seventh win in eight matches left the team eight points behind third-place Valencia with three matches left. The result secured Betis a place in the Europa League for the first time in four years.

They last played in the Champions League in 200506.

While the first chance went to Betis, a strike in the 18th minute by Antonio Barragan that bounced off the crossbar, it was Malaga who opened the scoring a little more than a minute later with a goal by Youssef En-Nesyri.

The advantage didn’t last long as a Malaga defensive blunder set up an easy goal for Betis winger Riza Durmisi to make it 1-1, which held up for the rest of the first half as the teams put on a good show for the 53,000 spectators.

Play continued at the same pace after the break, though as the minutes wore on it began to look as if both sides were willing to settle for a draw.

All that changed when Andres Guardado came on for Betis in the 68th minute to spur his teammates to intensify their efforts.

Betis ahead for good

Six minutes later, Fabian Ruiz scored from outside the box to put Betis ahead for good.

Betis hadn’t conceded a goal in six matches.

“Happy with the three points and with the return to a European competition,” Ruiz said.

Malaga had already been relegated, along with Las Palmas and Clarence Seedorf’s Deportivo La Coruna.