Twenty-one years is a long time to wait. Real Betis have ended that wait — confirming their return to the UEFA Champions League on Matchday 35 of La Liga, a moment that lands as one of the most significant results in the club's recent history. While Seville celebrated, the other end of the table was equally dramatic: Levante beat Celta Vigo 3-2 away from home to climb out of the relegation zone with three games left to play.
The last time Real Betis played in the Champions League group stage, José Luis Mendilibar was managing in the lower reaches of Spanish football and the iPhone didn't exist. That was 2005. Two decades of near-misses, financial turbulence, Europa League runs, and one Copa del Rey later — they're back.
Confirming a top-four finish in La Liga is the kind of result that stops a city. Betis have built steadily over recent seasons, threading together European experience in the Europa League and Conference League, but the Champions League has remained just out of reach. Matchday 35 changed that. The exact scoreline from their fixture is yet to be fully confirmed by multiple sources, but the outcome — and what it means — is not in any doubt, according to Football España.
For La Liga, it also matters beyond Seville. Spanish football now sends another club into Europe's top competition, reinforcing the league's weight at the continental table.
Down at the other end of the table, Levante arrived at Celta Vigo needing something — and left with everything. A 3-2 away win is the kind of result that rewrites a relegation conversation overnight.
Three games to go. Levante out of the drop zone. Celta Vigo, who had been looking over their shoulder rather than down at their feet, now find themselves dragged back into it. The bottom of La Liga has been unsettled at the worst possible moment for the clubs involved.
The timing is brutal for Celta. Losing at home to a direct rival with the run-in this tight is the sort of result that defines seasons — and ends them. Levante, meanwhile, will take whatever momentum they can get.
Seven points from three games is still a big ask. But they've just shown they can go to a difficult ground and win. That counts for something.
Twenty-one years is a long time to wait. Real Betis have ended that wait — confirming their return to the UEFA Champions League on Matchday 35 of La Liga, a moment that lands as one of the most significant results in the…
Sources
Football España
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