Seville Derby

16.05.23 1116

The Seville derby is the football match between Sevilla and Real Betis, with both clubs located in the Spanish city of Seville. The match is also known as The Great Derby and the first meeting between the teams was in 1928.

The game was played in the group stage of the Copa del Rey and it was a thrilling match, with the final score 3-3 at the home of Sevilla, the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. The return game at the Estadio Benito Villamarín, home of Real Betis, also finished level at 1-1.

In terms of the league, the first meeting between Sevilla and Real Betis took place on the 7th of April 1929 at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and Sevilla won 3-0. Both league fixtures that season ended in favour of the home team, with Real Betis winning 2-1 in-front of their own fans.

Ahead of the Seville derby on the 21st of May 2023 in La Liga, there have been 103 matches between the teams in the Primera División and Sevilla have the advantage having won 49 of those games.

Real Betis have some catching up to do as they have won 30 times, with 24 games ending in a draw. Interestingly, the Seville derby has been played 14 times in the Segunda División and again, it is Sevilla who have had the better of things, winning 6 times in comparison to the 4 victories for Real Betis.

The teams have met once in European competition and they played in the Europa League round of 16 in 2013/14. Real Betis won the first leg 2-0 at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and were clear favourites going into the second leg at home.

However, Sevilla had other ideas and they won the second leg 2-0, which saw the tie go to extra-time and penalties. Sevilla kept their nerve to win the penalty shootout 4-3 and complete a remarkable comeback from their first leg disappointment at home.

Sevilla have enjoyed the stronger finishes in the Spanish topflight and at the end of the 2021/22 season, they have 50 higher finishes in the league than Real Betis, who have finished above Sevilla on 28 occasions.

Many of Sevilla’s higher finishes have come in the past 17 seasons, during which they have finished above Real Betis on 15 occasions. Both teams have been competitive in La Liga recently and finished in the top ten in the past two seasons.

If we look at recent goal scorers, the late José Antonio Reyes leads the way with a total of 5 goals in all competitions. All 5 goals were scored for Sevilla, with 3 goals coming in the league and 2 goals in the cup competitions.

All four of the top scorers played for Sevilla, with Ramón Vázquez García, Frédéric Kanouté, and Kevin Gameiro each scoring 4 goals in the Seville derby for Sevilla. Beñat Etxebarria, Hipólito Rincón, and Julio Cardeñosa each have 3 goals for Real Betis.