Betis concluded the league season at La Cartuja with a win against Levante
Real Betis ended the LaLiga season with a 2:1 win against Levante in the 38th round, in a match played on 23 May 2026 at La Cartuja stadium in Seville. The home team took an early lead through Abde Ezzalzouli, Levante came back with a goal by Carlos Espí in first-half stoppage time, and Pablo Fornals made it 2:1 in the 68th minute. According to Sky Sports data, the match was watched by 45,318 spectators, which gave the league finale additional weight and an atmosphere in line with the significance of the final appearance of the season.
With that victory, Betis confirmed fifth place in the LaLiga table, with 60 points after 38 matches played, according to the table published on the club's official website. For Manuel Pellegrini's team, it was a result that rounded off a stable season in the upper part of the standings, although the final round offered more tension than the position in the table suggested. Levante arrived in Seville under different pressure, because ahead of the league finale it was involved in the fight for survival. According to previews by the Spanish AS ahead of the final round, the Valencian team had 42 points and was among the clubs whose status in the Primera depended on the outcome of the final matches.
Betis' early goal opened the match
Betis opened the match very directly and took the lead as early as the fifth minute. According to Sky Sports' report, Abde Ezzalzouli scored with his right foot from the middle of the penalty area for 1:0, after the home team managed in the opening minutes to press the opponent high and create the first serious moment in front of Mathew Ryan's goal. Such a start suited Betis, who could build possession more calmly and force Levante to open up the game earlier than planned.
Levante, however, did not fall apart after conceding the goal. During the first half, the team gradually emerged from the initial pressure and increasingly looked for space down the flanks, especially in situations when Betis left more space behind the midfield line. Sky Sports' match chronology records several attempts by the visitors before the break, including dangerous situations for Carlos Espí and Jon Olasagasti. Precisely that flow of the match showed that Betis, despite the early lead, did not have complete control over the rhythm of the game.
The hosts also had periods in the first half in which they could have increased their advantage. Antony forced Ryan into a save in the third minute, and later Isco, Marc Roca and Cucho Hernández also tried. Betis combined through the middle and tried to attack the space between the visiting defenders, but Levante stayed in the match thanks to the goalkeeper's reactions and a defensive block that stabilized after the initial shock. In the closing stages of the half, that paid off for the visitors through an equalizer.
Espí punished open space before the break
In the first minute of first-half stoppage time, Levante scored for 1:1. Sky Sports states that Carlos Espí scored with his right foot from the middle of the penalty area, after an assist from Pablo Martínez and a quick visiting transition forward. That goal was important not only in terms of the score but also psychologically, because Betis went into the dressing room without the advantage it had held for almost the entire first half. Levante thereby rewarded the period in which it freed itself from pressure and showed that it had not come only to defend a narrow defeat.
Espí's goal fitted especially well into the broader context of Levante's end to the season. According to a Guardian article published before the final round, the young forward was one of the players who had received a more significant role during the period under coach Luís Castro. The same source pointed out that Levante, after a very difficult start to the season, improved its performance in the closing months and came within reach of survival. In that sense, the goal at La Cartuja was a continuation of a trend in which the team from Valencia showed an ability to react even in high-pressure matches.
For Betis, the equalizer meant the need to raise the tempo again in the second half. The home team could not rely only on protecting the result, but had to again look for width, quicker ball circulation and stronger pressure in the final third. Pellegrini's team more often reached shots from outside the penalty area and set pieces in the second half, but Levante also remained dangerous in transition. That kept the match open until the moment when Fornals took advantage of one of the most important situations of the second half.
Fornals decided it in the 68th minute
The decisive goal was scored in the 68th minute. According to Sky Sports' record, Diego Llorente had shortly before that forced Ryan into a save with a header after Antony's cross, and then Betis reached the lead from a new dangerous situation. Pablo Fornals scored with his left foot from the left side of the six-yard box and sent the ball into the lower left corner for 2:1. It was a goal that rewarded the home team's pressure in the period after the break and changed the tone of the final twenty minutes or so.
Fornals' goal also had symbolic value for Betis' end to the season. The home side did not play a mistake-free match, but it showed enough experience to regain the initiative on the scoreboard after the equalizer. Pellegrini then introduced additional energy and freshness from the bench, including Giovani Lo Celso, Álvaro Fidalgo and Chimy Ávila, while Levante tried through substitutions to restore intensity and find a new equalizer. Sky Sports states that the visitors threatened in the closing stages through Adrián de la Fuente, Karl Etta Eyong and Tai Abed, but they failed to beat goalkeeper Adrián for a second time.
The final minutes brought the expected pressure from Levante. In the 90th minute, five minutes of stoppage time were indicated, and in the 95th minute the visitors had an attempt by Tai Abed that Adrián saved. Immediately after that, an offside by Iker Losada was also recorded, which ended another visiting situation. Betis withstood the final pressure and concluded the match with a victory that, although narrow, was enough for the home fans to close the season with a positive result.
Betis finished the season as LaLiga's fifth-placed team
Real Betis' official website after the 38th round showed the club in fifth place with 60 points and a goal difference of plus 11. That placing reflects a season in which the Seville team remained in the upper tier of Spanish football, behind clubs that had an extremely strong points rhythm, but ahead of the pursuers who failed to seriously threaten its position in the closing stages. For Betis, it is confirmation of continuity, because the team, even in the final round and despite a demanding opponent, found a way to take three points.
Fifth place is particularly important because it brings sporting and financial stability ahead of planning for the new season. Clubs from the upper part of LaLiga enter the summer with a different market position, retain important players more easily and have greater room for reinforcements. Betis had periods of oscillation during the season, but remained effective enough in matches in which it was expected to take the initiative. The victory over Levante fit precisely into that pattern: it was not convincing, but it was mature in terms of the result.
According to LaLiga's official calendar, the 38th round was played through the final weekend of the season, and some matches were also scheduled for 24 May 2026. That means part of the broader standings was still being completed with the results of the remaining matches at the time of Betis' victory, but Betis' position in relation to its nearest pursuers was clear. Celta, according to the table on Betis' website, finished the season with 54 points, while Getafe had 51 points. Betis therefore had enough of an advantage for the final round not to become a fight to retain its position, but rather a confirmation of the performance already achieved.
Levante left without a point in a high-pressure match
For Levante, the defeat at La Cartuja was more difficult because it came in the context of the fight for survival. AS wrote ahead of the final round that Levante was among the teams with 42 points and that a point in Seville would guarantee it a calmer outcome, while Osasuna, Elche, Girona and Mallorca were also in play in the lower part of the table. The defeat against Betis therefore meant that the Valencian club also had to rely on other results and on the standings in head-to-head records, depending on the final outcome of the round. The match itself showed that Levante was not passive, but paid the price for weaker finishing in key moments.
Luís Castro's team had several good periods, especially after conceding the first goal and in the closing stages of the match. Carlos Espí was a constant threat, and Levante tried through crosses and transitional attacks to attack the space between Betis' defenders. In the 60th minute, Espí missed with a header after Pablo Martínez's cross, and in the 71st minute Adrián de la Fuente had two dangerous headed situations after set pieces. Such details explain why the result remained open until the very end, even though Betis had more individual quality in the final phase.
Before the final round, the Guardian described Levante's season as a strong turnaround after the coaching change in December 2025, stating that the team under Castro had won significantly more points than in the first part of the season. That information gives additional context to the defeat in Seville: Levante did not look like a team without a plan, but like a side that entered the run-in with renewed confidence. Still, against Betis it failed to combine enough precision in the final phase with firmness after breaking the home pressure.
La Cartuja as the final stage of the season
The match was played at Estadio La Cartuja in Seville, a stadium that was Betis' home stage for league matches during the season. Sky Sports lists the stadium as Estadio Olímpico de la Cartuja and records an attendance of 45,318 spectators. Such an atmosphere was important for the home team, especially in moments when it needed to raise the rhythm again after the equalizer. Betis had support that pushed the team toward the opposition penalty area, and Fornals' goal in the second half came precisely after a period of increased pressure.
La Cartuja also had a broader symbolic frame in this match because the final match of the season brought together two different realities. Betis played to confirm a successful league campaign and leave a final impression in front of its own crowd. Levante played a match in which every point could have significance for survival. For that reason, the 2:1 result had double weight: it gave the hosts a calm finish, and left the visitors with a bitter feeling that they could have taken more from the match.
The very dynamics of the match were typical of a final round in which one team has security in terms of the result, while the other is struggling with pressure from the lower part of the table. Betis had more periods of control, but not complete dominance. Levante knew how to wait for a mistake and quickly break forward, which was best seen in the goal for 1:1. In the end, the home team's efficiency in the penalty area proved decisive, especially in the move from the 68th minute.
A victory that confirms Betis' maturity
Betis' victory cannot be reduced only to the result. The home team showed the ability to recover after conceding a goal at a psychologically awkward moment, just before going into the break. In such matches, one often sees the difference between a team that has a stable identity and one that seeks security through the result. Betis maintained patience in the second half, did not move into chaotic attacks and waited for the moment in which Fornals reacted fastest in the penalty area.
Levante, on the other hand, leaves Seville with confirmation that it was competitive in the season's closing stages even against teams from the top of the standings. The 2:1 defeat does not reflect the visitors' complete helplessness, but rather a match in which details decided the winner. Espí's goal, Ryan's saves and several visiting threats in the second half show that Levante had a clear idea of how to stay in the contest. What was missing was only the final precision that would have turned the pressure from the last minutes into a point.
For Betis, however, the final image of the season is the most important: a victory in front of the crowd, fifth place and 60 points. In a competition in which the differences between the middle and the upper part of the table are often small, such a performance represents a solid foundation for the continuation of the project. The final whistle at La Cartuja marked the end of one league story in which Betis achieved the goal of a stable stay near the top, while Levante had to wait for final confirmation of the outcome in the lower part of the table.
Sources:
- LaLiga – official match page for Real Betis - Levante UD in the 2025/26 season (link)
- LaLiga – official results of the 38th round of LaLiga EA Sports 2025/26 (link)
- Real Betis Balompié – official club website and table display after the 38th round (link)
- Sky Sports – report, scorers, match flow and attendance data for Real Betis - Levante (link)
- AS – context of the fight for survival in LaLiga ahead of the final round (link)
- The Guardian – context of Levante's end to the season and the work of coach Luís Castro (link)