When Manuel Pellegrini leads Real Betis into Sunday’s Gran Derbi at the Benito Villamarin, the Chilean coach, while having his eyes set firmly on the prize of securing the city’s bragging rights, will also be thinking of another even more lucrative objective, that of Champions League qualification.

An expectation defying season has seen the verdiblanco side roar into the conversation surrounding qualification to Europe’s elite club competition, something that previously seemed echelons away for a side whose motto is ‘Viva el Betis manquepierda’, translated to “Long live Betis, even though they lose”.

After an inconsistent first half to the season saw Betis confined to LaLiga’s mid table, the arrival of Antony from Manchester United and, perhaps more significantly, the much-awaited return of Isco following a broken fibula has seen a galvanised Betis side waltz their way up the table.

The five-times European champion, now at the age of 32, has since scored six goals and three assists, including setting up Johnny Cardoso for Betis’ first goal in their 2-1 victory over Real Madrid, before keeping a cool head against his former side to score the winner from the penalty spot.

Isco has continued to be the protagonist in what is now a free-flowing Betis attack. However, there are other key clogs in the machine that deserve their credit.

The breakthrough of Jesus Rodriguez from the academy has helped to fill the void left by an out-of-form Ez Abde while the aforementioned arrival of Antony has added quality to the right side of Betis’ front three, with the Manchester United loanee chipping in with four goals and four assists across both domestic and European football.

In the number nine position, Pellegrini now also finds himself with options after Colombian striker Cucho Hernandez joined in a €13m move from MLS side Columbus, recently getting off the mark with a fine volley in Betis’ comeback win over Leganes before the international break. Betis can now also count on their veteran striker Cedric Bakambu, with the 33-year-old’s return to form helping to add some important goals for the Champions League challengers.

Pellegrini now finds himself with a team of talent, and, most importantly, an eleven that finds itself enjoying one of its best moments.

On a personal level for Pellegrini, Sunday’s derby will be the Chilean’s eleventh, the most derbies a single coach has ever led Real Betis into, while the former Manchester City boss also recently became the coach with the most victories at the helm of Los Verdiblancos.

Away from the pitch, there are also things to be excited for with preparations ramping up for Betis’ stadium renovation project which will see their almost 100-year home transformed into a state-of-the-art modern stadium, redeveloping three of the stands to form a fully closed off circular stadium while also tripling the number of VIP seats to help increase the match day income of a club that is often strapped for cash.

Improvements to the club shop, museum and the building of a five-floor gran plaza attached to one of the stands will help to transform the Benito Villamarin into one of LaLiga’s most eye-catching stadiums, with the club President recently stating his desire for the ground to be included in the list of stadiums for the 2030 World Cup which is set to be hosted in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

The club also recently pitched itself as LaLiga’s leader in the fight against climate change, designing a shirt made from invasive sea algae that was worn in the club’s 3-1 win over Real Sociedad, as well as various efforts to raise awareness of the man-made changes occurring to our planet.

While Antony’s arrival has helped Betis on the pitch, the club’s online presence has also exploded, with a 13% increase in followers in the weeks following the Brazilian’s arrival and an almost three-times increase in engagement to their respective Instagram and TikTok pages, as the club took on a truly global profile and fanbase.

The success and growth of Real Betis both on and off the pitch this season is helping to see an enthused fanbase dream of adding another trophy to their relatively small collection, with just three Copa del Reys and one LaLiga title, coming as long ago as 1935.

In fact, it is Seville’s other club that tends to be the more successful, with Los Nervionenses having the record for most Europa League titles (seven) as well as a European Super Cup, domestic title and five Copa del Reys.

However, recent years has seen the progress of Sevilla stall with an internal battle between the club’s current President, ‘Junior’ (Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco), and his father, the former President who presided over the majority of the club’s rich European success.

While both battle for control over the club, the internal war that is being waged between the family has had devastating consequences, with a resulting lack of investment into the team plunging Sevilla into relegation battles instead of European finals, something the club’s fanbase was previously much accustomed to seeing.

With LaLiga’s rules attempting to balance a side’s wage budget by their revenue and profits, the Andalusian team now has the lowest such budget in the league, standing at just over €684,000 per year according to LaLiga’s most recently released figures in February 2025a stark contrast to Real Betis’ €108m salary limit.

There are rumours of changes in the ownership of the club’s stock, in particular those owned by American investment firm 777 Partners who are looking to potentially expand to a majority ownership, building on their current 12% stake in the club.

All the controversy and rumours away from the pitch are helping to seep onto it, with two bottom-half finishes in the last two seasons seeing the club far away from even dreaming of repeating their previous European feats.

Sevilla’s current coach Garcia Pimienta has helped to steer the club away from the threat of relegation, with the 50-year-old awarded an extension earlier this season despite a mixed bag of results, potentially demonstrating that the immediate objective for those in Nervion is to steer clear of the drop-zone rather than aim for the European spots.

Speaking recently on the evolution of Real Betis and the contrasting ‘involution’ of Sevilla to Cadena Ser, Manuel Pellegrini explained, “Without any doubt, the Sevilla that we have seen in the last two years is not the same Sevilla as the previous years. Previously they were always fighting for the Champions League, with a squad worthy of the Champions League and fighting for important things. I don’t know the motives but in these last two years, it is a team that isn’t competing in Europe and is towards the bottom half of the table.”

Betis’ head coach, coined with the nickname the Engineer, also highlighted how Betis in contrast have seen a transformed mentality, adding a Copa del Rey to their trophy collection in 2022 and becoming regular competitors for European football.

Pellegrini said, “I think in the last five years we (Betis) have tried to gain an ambitious mentality and to try to always finish as high as possible independent of economic conditions. In the last five years we have been competing for really important objectives.”

With Sunday’s derby offering Betis the chance to increase their eight-point lead over their city rivals, the mood between the camps could not be more contrasting as an ambitious Real Betis side look to take advantage of their city rivals’ woes, and this derby very much has a predator-prey feel to it.