Madrid (Spain), Nov 26 (IANS) Spanish club Real Betis play at home to Utrecht in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night, although Manuel Pellegrini’s players could be forgiven for having other things on their minds. The game comes just three days before Betis face Sevilla in the Seville derby, which is arguably the most bitter rivalry in La Liga, and with that game, Betis have very little time to recover after Thursday’s match.

However, although Pellegrini is likely to make changes to his starting 11 on Thursday, with players such as Cedric Bakambu coming into his side, he has to keep his eye on the ball as Betis currently sit just outside of the top eight in the qualification group and need a win if his side is to avoid an extra qualification round in February.

Pellegrini is also in the news in Spain as it appears the veteran coach is on the verge of signing a new contract to stay at the club for another year after his current deal expires at the end of June, reports Xinhua.

Penning a new contract would end speculation that Pellegrini could become the Chile national team coach after the World Cup.

Celta currently sit fourth in the qualification group with three wins from their four games so far in the tournament and now face a long trip to play the Bulgarian side Ludogorets, which has lost its last three games.

Williot Swedberg return for Celta after injury to add to Claudio Giraldez’s options in attack, although the Celta coach is likely to name a team similar to that which won in Zagreb earlier in the month, with Bryan Zaragoza and Pablo Duran leading his side’s attack, with Borja Iglesias on the substitutes’ bench.

En route to a disappointing 1-1 stalemate, however, the former Arsenal man was forced into a premature departure from proceedings. Bellerín, in turn, was put through a round of medical checks and scans in Seville earlier on Wednesday. And the tests in question revealed what is described by the Verdiblancos simply as ‘a soleus (calf) injury’. As per a statement across Real Betis’ website and social media platforms:

Meanwhile, in the Conference League, Rayo Vallecano travel to play a Slovan Bratislava side looking for its first points in the tournament.

–IANS

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