Seville's green side seeks a miracle against the Greek wall

Real Betis are currently performing a masterclass in how to turn a promising European campaign into a very expensive holiday. After finishing a lofty fourth in the Europa League phase, Manuel Pellegrini’s men decided that the best way to approach the first leg in Athens was to play with the urgency of a man waiting for a bus in the rain.

They didn't just lose; they managed to lose to a team that finished 20th in the standings. That is a special kind of achievement. Diego Llorente’s red card in the first leg was the cherry on top of a particularly bitter cake, leaving the Engineers a man down and a goal behind thanks to Vicente Taborda’s late penalty. Now, without their defensive leader, Betis have to overturn a 1-0 deficit against a Panathinaikos side that has rediscovered the joy of being absolutely unbearable to play against.

The Greeks are currently riding a wave of three consecutive wins and have developed a taste for clean sheets that must be worrying for the Andalusian faithful. They don't care about possession, they don't care about "The Beautiful Game," and they certainly don't care about your feelings. They will park a bus made of solid Greek marble in front of their goal and wait for Betis to inevitably frustrate themselves into another red card.

Pellegrini needs his creative sparks to actually create something other than disappointment. Isco might be approaching the twilight of his career, but if he doesn't pull a rabbit out of his hat on Thursday night, the only thing Betis will be engineering is an early exit from the competition. Expect plenty of possession for the hosts, a lot of whistling from the stands, and at least four Panathinaikos players miraculously recovering from "life-threatening" injuries every time the ball goes out of play.

Real Betis 1-1 Panathinaikos