Real Betis vs Sevilla preview - Perotti not giving up on Europe

Posted Friday, April 12, 2013 by PA

Sevilla midfielder Diego Perotti promises his side will fight to the last in their bid to land a Europa League berth come the end of the season.

Perotti's side meet Real Betis in La Liga in a crucial Seville derby, where defeat for the visitors will surely end their hopes of reaching Europe.

Tenth-placed Sevilla trail Betis by six points, with their city rivals currently occupying the final Europa League-paying position in seventh.

"They are currently above us and beyond our reach, but we will keep playing for our lives until the very end," Perotti told Spanish radio station SFC.

Sevilla are coming off of a 2-1 triumph over Athletic Bilbao and Perotti believes securing back-to-back wins for the first time since late January could be the catalyst for a strong end to the season.

"If we win, it will be a much greater morale boost than the win against Athletic," he said.

Sevilla have form against Betis this season after winning the reverse fixture 5-1 in November, but Perotti knows the only prize worth shouting about come the end of the season will be a place in European competition.

"Of course, it means nothing if we don't achieve our objectives," he said.

"The 5-1 win is not enough because the most important thing is to be in Europe, not to say we won both games against Betis."

Betis head into the match in the wake of a fine 5-1 win at Granada last weekend.

Ruben Castro scored twice for Mel Pepe's men last week, and he refuted the suggestion that Betis will be looking for revenge over their autumn mauling when Sevilla visit.

"It is not about revenge, but it is a meeting that we have to win," he told realbetisbalompie.es.

"If we win we are still in contention for Europe, we will be in a good place and we will have more chances of achieving our goal.

"We know that Sevilla have a great team but I am confident in my team, and if we do things well we will have a chance to win."