Spain

Tercera Andaluza Sevilla

Grupo 4

Saturday 21st February 2026

Kick Off 2000 Actual 20.13

Triaca 3 Club Deportivo San Jeronimo 1, attendance 40

8’ 1-0

23’ 2-0

32’ 2-1

49’ 3-1

@ Centro Deportivo San Pablo Futbol

Calle Tesalonica

41007 Sevilla

No Admission or Programme.

We’d already called in here on our way to the afternoon match, just in case timings had been a bit tight. They weren’t though and the game kicked off thirteen minutes late anyway, as a youth match taking place when we arrived had overrun its schedule. It’s a 3G pitch, with spectator access limited to one side, where there was a section of open metal benches, with the dugouts opposite, or you could choose to watch from behind one goal, where there were a few seats, but you’d be watching through mesh fencing. Nobody chose the second option! As you entered off Calle Tesalonica there was a refreshment area, which remained pretty busy throughout, with very reasonable prices, but it had no view of the pitch, whilst the changing rooms were to the left of here.

This was 7th versus 12th in the league table, in what is the ninth level of Spanish football. The hosts were ahead after eight minutes, with a shot from the edge of the box and double their lead fifteen minutes later, when a cross from the left was swept in from six yards. San Jeronimo pulled one back just after the half hour mark, heading in a diagonal cross at the far post. Three minutes before halftime Triaca were awarded a penalty. It had to be taken twice, due to infringements, with the San Jeronimo saving both kicks. Triaca made it 3-1 four minutes into the second half, when a blocked cross was returned with a curling shot from the angle of the 18 yard box that found the far corner of the net.

Spain

La Liga

Saturday 21st February 2025

Kick Off 16.15 Actual 16.17

Real Betis Balompie 1 Rayo Vallecano de Madrid 1, attendance 59,436

17’ 1-0

42’ 1-1

@ Estadio La Cartuja Sevilla

Zona Isla de la Cartuja

41092 Sevilla

€28 Admission + €4.50 Booking Fee, Electronic Ticket

No Programme.

A 12 mile drive, which took 22 minutes, found us at our main game of the weekend, or at least a forty minute walk from the stadium! I’d visited Real Betis at their Estadio Benito Villamarin back in February 2006, seeing a 2-0 win versus Real Sociedad, but they are currently carrying out renovations there and will play home games at the 70,000 capacity Estadio de La Cartuja in the meantime. It was opened in 1999 and built to host the Athletics World Championships of the same year and it was hoped to play host to the Olympic Games too, but was part of a failed bid. It famously hosted the 2003 U.E.F.A. Cup Final between F.C. Porto and Celtic and it’s the largest stadium in Andalusia and the fourth largest in Spain.

There’s no car access anywhere near the stadium on match days, apart from VIP’s etc. hence the long walk, but it’s probably quicker on foot to exit the vicinity afterwards than it would be by car anyway, especially if there’s a big crowd present. From the outside the stadium is really underwhelming. It’s got more a look of an office block or residential building than a sports venue, but is absolutely superb once inside. The running track has now gone and the sight lines are excellent. Well, they certainly were from our seats in the top tier and we were pleased, purely by chance, to have opted for seats in the shaded area of the ground. It must have been sweltering on the far side, looking into the sun, as the temperature was edging towards the mid twenties! Tickets were easily booked online, although rather oddly, do not appear digitally until under 48 hours prior to kick off, which was a bit worrying, although it all turned out okay in the end.

It was 5th versus 17th in the league table and looked a good bet for Betis to pick up a valuable three points in their push to finish in a Champions League place, but lowly Vallecano deservedly held out for a draw. It might have been different had Betis played like they did in stoppage time, where they threw everything at the visitors, but sadly, that wasn’t the case. Betis opened the scoring after seventeen minutes, when Bakambu fired high into the roof of the net, after a cross from the right had been blocked by a defender, but fell perfectly for the shot. Isi Palazon grabbed the equaliser three minutes before halftime, side footing in at the far post from a cross from the right. It was met with a deathly silence, despite there being a few hundred away fans in the top tier behind the far goal. Having drawn level, they nearly took the lead in stoppage time, but hit the post with a free kick. Betis did very little for the remainder of the game, until we entered a ridiculous 14 minutes of added time, caused mainly by two lengthy VAR incidents, neither of which resulted in anything. They missed a point blank effort from six yards, which was maybe as much down to good goalkeeping as a bad miss and they did actually get the ball in the net after 100 minutes had been played, but it was ruled out for offside. The game finally finished at 18.17, exactly two hours after it had started. Luckily for us, game three was under four miles away….once we’d made the long hike back to the car.

Spain

National U19 League

Division Honor

Grupo 4

Real Betis Balompie U19 7 Sporting Atletico Cueta U19 1, attendance 135

16’ 1-0

31’ 2-0

36’ 3-0

45’ 3-1

71’ 4-1

75’ 5-1

81’ 6-1

87’ 7-1

@ Ciudad Deportiva Rafael Gordillo, Pitch A4

Da Concepción Ybarra Ybarra

off Avenida Santiago Carillo Solares

41703 Dos Hermanas

No Admission or Programme.

It was about half an hours drive from our hotel west of Sevilla, to the town of Dos Hermanas, just southeast of the city. Pitch A4 is part of a multi pitch complex and has a dual aspect stand that has 344 seats. There’s no problem gaining access, although the security at the main gate only allow spectators into the site about half an hours drive before kick off. There’s a large car park and a cafe outside the security gate, where drinks and snacks are available, with a patio area with chairs and tables, enabling you to soak up the sun pre match. It was continually busy, as the other part of the complex, on the other side of the road, was hosting youth matches.

The match was 1st versus 7th in the league table and turned out to be an easy win for the hosts. They were in front after sixteen minutes and had added two more by the thirty sixth minute. Sporting Atletico looked like they might get back into it, when they pulled one back in the last minute of the half, but the comeback was short lived. They did hold the hosts out until the seventy first minute, when a ball down the left was finished with a low angled shot into the far corner, with a fifth goal coming four minutes later. A diagonal free kick, spilled by the ‘keeper and followed in from close range and a shot that went under the dive of the ‘keeper saw them add two more in the last nine minutes to round off the scoring.