Betis return to the Liga BBVA

It has taken just 39 weeks for the Sevilla club to achieve their objective, but Real Betis are once again back where they belong. After an inconsistent start to the season, a few doubts and many goals later, the verdiblancos are back in the Liga BBVA, one year after being relegated from the top flight.

The numbers the team have racked up speak for the great effort the Sevilla club have made this season, as well as their great campaign. After Girona FC's defeat on matchday 39, the Catalans are nine points behind Betis, who lead the Liga Adelante with 81 points and are the virtual champions. Only R. Sporting can catch Pepe Mel's side now, and to do so they will have to win all their remaining games, because Pepe Mel's side have the better head-to-head record than Girona. Therefore, the Béticos can only slip into second place if they lose every game left, and the team that catches them will be automatically promoted to the top flight.

Betis can therefore put their calculators to one side and celebrate the end of a journey that began nine months ago. The verdiblancos began this season in the Liga Adelante full of excitement, hope and one dream: to return to the Spanish top flight.

After getting promoted, Betis can look forward to playing their 50th season in the Liga BBVA.

Julio Velázquez commanded the Betis ship at the start of the season, but the boat would have to change captains after coming across some choppy waters. The team were far from convincing on the pitch and the results were not arriving either. After 14 matches, the Salamanca coach had only picked up six wins and four draws, losing five matches, leaving his side in sixth place.

The fans were not happy and the board decided to take swift action, relieving the coach of his duties just months after he had taken over. Whether it was a coincidence or not, Real Betis have only lost one of their last 25 matches since then. The team are finally playing how their fans expected at the start of the campaign.

Juan Merino was one of the architects of this change. The club's youth team coach took Velázquez's place and defied expectations by getting the first team to perform. Just when the team were at their lowest point, the coach inspired them to four consecutive wins that propelled them up the table and laid the foundations for the new coach: Pepe Mel.

The Betis board decided to bring back one of the masterminds of the club's last promotion campaign in 2010/11, a coach dearly loved by the squad and the fans, with the aim of giving the team the little boost they needed to return to the top of the table. Mel arrived ahead of match day 19, with Betis sitting third in the table, but the experienced coach helped turn the team into the best in theleague.

Mel has taken charge of 20 games with Betis this season, only losing one. 

With the former coach back in charge, matches translated into wins and draws. Merino may have been the one that mapped out Betis' path to the top, but Mel taught his players to follow it, using a mix of experienced heads and academy players. Betis had lost any of their last 15 games, winning 10 and drawing five. These are the type of statistics that get you promoted, and Betis moved into first place in the Liga Adelante on match day 29, but a week later they surprisingly lost 3-1 at home to CD Leganés.

It didn't matter, because that game proved to be a simple slip up rather than a the start of a collapse. Since that defeat on match day 30, Betis have won eight of the nine matches they have played, drawing the other. Rubén Castro, with 32 goals, and Jorge Molina, with 19, are two of the main architects of the verdiblancos' success, as are youngsters Francisco Varela and Dani Ceballos, who have managed to hold down a place in the team this year.

By using a healthy a mixture of veterans and youths, of quality and experience, Mel has helped Betis get promoted and made them likely champions. All he has to do now is finish the season, enjoy himself and wait for next season, because Betis are back in the Liga BBVA. Congratulations!