Just as the Zillertal training camp comes to an end, Werder are taking part in the “2016 Dresden-Cup”. Alongside hosts Dynamo Dresden and Werder, there will be two other famous European teams involved – Real Betis and Everton. Werder Bremen begin the tournament on Friday, 29th July, at 18:00 CEST against the Spanish first-division side from Seville.
The Spaniards are travelling with a lot of self-confidence. The “Béticos” have come away as winners in all of their last four pre-season matches. Among these were 2-1 wins over newly-promoted Middlesbrough and second-division Fulham, both from England. The new season begins a little bit earlier for the team from Southern Spain, who also run out in Green-White shirts. After the tournament in Sachsen and two more friendlies against Sporting Lisbon and HSC Montpellier, the season starts away at current champions Barcelona, on Saturday, 20th August.
In the last few years, the team who were founded in 1907 have experienced a number of relegations. In 2009, Betis went down after eight years in the Spanish top flight. This was the 1935 champions’ eleventh relegation. After a turbulent couple of years, with suspicion of wrongdoings at the club, they celebrated promotion again. After finishing in seventh place in the 2012/2013 season, they qualified for European competition, and made it into the round of 16 of the Europa League in the following season. They were knocked out in penalties to five-time Europa League champions and City rivals Sevilla FC. Nevertheless, this was the club’s greatest ever achievement on an international stage.
However, it didn’t go quite so well in the league for the Green-Whites from the fourth-biggest city in Spain (700,000 inhabitants). Betis suffered relegation into the second division once again, after finishing bottom of the league. After this disappointment in the 2013/2014 season, the two-time Spanish Cup winners (1977 and 2005) bounced back immediately to win the ‘Segunda División’. The ‘Verdiblancos’ put in a strong performance last season to finish in tenth place as a newly-promoted side.
There have been a few former Bundesliga players in the Betis squad. After the 2006 World Cup, the 16-time Germany international David Odonkor joined the club from Borussia Dortmund. The 32-year-old went on to make 52 appearances over five seasons, scoring three goals. Last season, Heiko Westermann moved to Spain after five seasons at HSV and played 20 matches for Real Betis. The defender now plays for Ajax. Since summer 2015, Bundesliga veteran Rafael van der Vaart from the Netherlands has been under contract in Seville.
