Real Betis vs Zaragoza preview - Dorado staying grounded

Posted Thursday, September 22, 2011 by PA

Real Betis defender Chechu Dorado is refusing to get carried away with all the plaudits coming his side's way following his side`s fine start to the Primera Division season.

Victories over Granada, Real Mallorca and Athletic Bilbao have left Betis joint top after the opening three rounds, level on nine points with Valencia, and they will hope to continue that run when they host Real Zaragoza.

It is an impressive start for last season's Segunda Division champions but Dorado is taking little heed of the acclaim his side are receiving.

"We know well from last year that praise is all well and good but we have to be ourselves. Anyone can beat anyone and we need to remember the defeats from last year and learn from them," he said.

"We need to continue picking up points for whenever a bad run comes."

Betis coach Pepe Mel added: "I feel calm that we've started like this because we needed it. We came from the second division and we didn't want any doubts creeping in.

"In pre-season it was said that the team wasn't scoring and that is was going to have a bad time of it in the Primera, whilst I said that I was happy.

"I saw the work being put in and knew that this team was going to do things well. For us it was fundamental to start well."

While Betis have enjoyed the perfect start, Zaragoza have had a mixed time.

They began with a 6-0 home drubbing by Real Madrid but since then have drawn 0-0 at Rayo Vallecano and at the weekend beat Espanyol 2-1 thanks to a brace from Luis Garcia - who left Espanyol for Zaragoza this summer.

Coach Javier Aguirre is hoping to build on that win against Betis, but concedes it is unlikely to be easy against the in-form Andalusians.

He said: "Betis have a good team, excellent, without great names but one that is hard-working. They have built a good block of players and are one of the leaders. It's going to be difficult, but we will try to have a good game to pick up some points."