It was a thrilling match. As I mentioned in my previous post, the match went from one box to the other. First half was for Nottingham Forest and the second half was for Real Betis.
After the initial minutes, Real Betis scored first (Bakambu; assist Antony). The goal seemed to awake the English side and within 4 minutes they equalized the match. Betis got into trouble and was not able to pass the ball 2-3 times before sending it to a red player. Five minutes later, Igor Jesus, heading the ball after a corner kick, gave the lead to Nottingham. Following minutes were dramatic, with Betis just surviving and the distance could have gone to 1-4 easily at halftime. However, they managed to hold the result (1-2).
Second half commenced with 3 changes in Real Betis, including 2 players from the left side and one midfielder. This gave us more possession and Forest remained closer to their box. After Fornals got into the pitch, Real Betis increased the pressure a bit more. At 86 minutes, Antony received a pass in the box and sent it to the net. At the end, a 2-2 draw which I think it was fair.
In the other match of the night, Roma won 2-1 in France. Most of stackers gave them as the winners of this matchup.
Today, there are 9 more matches. We will focus on two of them. Porto will visit RB Salzburg. The Austrians have been a regular in the Champions League though without big success. They have only played the group phases in recent years. Porto is also a regular in the Champions League and they won it twice (last in 2004). They have also won Europa League twice, so that they are one of the favorites to win it this year. They have been performing well in Primeira Liga where they are leading the table with 18 points out of 18 possible. They have scored 15 goals and only conceded 1. @0xbitcoiner has to be proud.
The other match we have chosen is Aston Villa vs Bologna. The Villains are struggling since the Premier League commenced. They have not won a match yet, after 5 weeks. Their football operations manager has just been sacked this week. They have a top manager, Unai Emery, who has won this competition several times. In the other side, the Italians, won the Italian Cup last year and they are positioned in the middle of the table after 4 weeks.
The rest of the matches, so you can get to know them, are:
- Lille (FRA) vs Brann (NOR)
- Go Ahead Eagles (NED) vs FCSB (ROM)
- Rangers (SCO) vs Genk (BEL)
- Ferencváros (HUN) vs Viktoria Plzen (CZE)
- Young Boys (SWI) vs Panathinaikos (GRE)
- Stuttgart (GER) vs Celta (SPA)
- Utrecht (NED) vs Lyon (FRA)
I am sure that @grayruby is going to love the name of the Dutch team