Real Betis, somewhat of a ‘Yo-yo’club with promotions and relegations that have taken them as far down as the fourth division, while they have also won three Spanish Cups, in 1977, 2005 and 2022, as well as one La Liga title, in distant 1935. Regarding their European performance, they have twice reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup (1978 and 1998).

• Founded in September 1907 by students of the local Polytechnic University under the name Sevilla Balompié. Balompié is the colloquial Spanish word for football.
• Two years later, from a split of Seville, Betis was created. The name comes from the Latin name Baetis, the much-sung river Guadalquivir, which crosses Seville.
• In 1914, the two teams merged under the name Betis Balompie and in the same year the new club was placed under the protection of King Alfonso XIII, hence the name Real (royal).
• Its colors are green and white.
• PAOK have faced Spanish teams a total of eight times to date, with a record of three wins, five draws and five losses. They have qualified twice against Spanish teams, once in the group stage and once in the League Phase. PAOK has never lost at home against a Spanish team.
• The team’s flagship player is veteran winger Rafael Gordillo, who currently also offers his services in administrative positions.
• Betis’ home ground since 1929 is the «Benito Villamarin», with a capacity of 61,000 spectators, located in the Heliopolis (Ilioupoli) district. However, since the beginning of 2025, when modernization works began, the team have been using another stadium, the Estadio La Cartuja, as their home ground.
• Betis won the league in 1935 and the Spanish Cup in 1977, 2005 and 2022.
• Betis celebrated their 25th anniversary by winning its first Segunda Division title in 1932. It thus became the first team from Andalusia to compete in La Liga.
• On 28 April 1935, under the guidance of Irish coach Patrick O’Connell, Betis won La Liga, their only league title in the top division to date.
• However, the club began to decline and in 1947 reached a historic low, as it was relegated to the Tercera División (4th division). They even spent 10 years in the fourth tier. There are many who claim that the club’s identity was formed then.
• The team’s motto, after all, is «Viva el Betis manque pierda!» (Long live Betis even when it loses!), perhaps due to the club’s turbulent history and many relegations.
• The famous Betis president Benito Villamarín took over in 1955. During his tenure, Betis returned to the top division in the 1958–59 season and finished in third place in 1964. Villamarín resigned in 1965.
• Just a year after Villamarín’s departure, the club was relegated back to the second division.
• On 25 June 1977, Betis played Athletic Bilbao at the Vicente Calderón stadium in the Copa del Rey final. After a 2–2 draw in normal time, 21 penalties were needed to win 8–7 and win their first Copa del Rey title. That same season, they finished fifth in the league.
• The following season, Betis competed in the European Cup Winners’ Cup, where they eliminated Milan with an aggregate score of 3–2. They reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Dynamo Moscow. Ironically, despite their impressive run in Europe, the team was relegated.
• Betis became the first Andalusian team to compete in the Champions League and reach the group stage.
• An important role in its revival in the 1990s was played by coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, known to Greeks from his tenure at AEK years later.
• Betis has a long-standing rivalry with fellow city club Sevilla. The first match between the two teams took place on 8 February 1915, but it was never completed, as with the score 4-3 in Sevilla’s favour, spectators invaded the pitch.
• The club qualified for the Conference League after its seventh-place finish in the 2023–24 season and reached the first European final in its history, the following season. In that final, the Conference League final on 28.05.2025, they were defeated 4-1 by Chelsea.