Betis, managed by Manuel Pellegrini, had won 3-2 away to Lille on matchday 1; Porto, coached by Francesco Farioli, had lost 2-0 at home to Manchester City. Flashscore's preview described it as the first competitive meeting between the clubs, and Flashscore noted that it was Betis's first home Champions League game in 21 years. The 20:00 BST game in Seville was refereed by France's Clément Turpin, with Willy Delajod on VAR, according to RTP.
How Betis won it from 2-1 down
Betis started in a 4-2-3-1 with Álvaro Valles in goal and Troy Parrott up front. Porto played 4-3-3, with Diogo Costa in goal, Victor Froholdt and Alan Varela in midfield and André Silva, Pepê and Borja Sainz in attack. The goals:
- 47' Real Betis 1-0 FC Porto: Abde Ezzalzouli, a right-footed shot from the left side of the box into the top right corner, set up by Fran García.
- 54' Real Betis 1-1 FC Porto: Gabri Veiga, a right-footed free kick into the top left corner.
- 61' Real Betis 1-2 FC Porto: Samu Aghehowa, a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the top right corner, set up by Pepê.
- 74' Real Betis 2-2 FC Porto: Cucho Hernández, a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner, set up by Antony.
- 84' Real Betis 3-2 FC Porto: Isco, a right-footed penalty into the bottom left corner.
Veiga was back from a thigh strain, beIN Sports reported, and his free kick was Porto's first shot on target of this Champions League campaign, A Bola noted.
A goalless half, a VAR penalty and the bench
The first half was goalless. Diogo Costa saved from Abde and from Ángel Ortiz, André Silva headed against the crossbar, and Martim Fernandes had a goal ruled out just before half-time for a handball by Borja Sainz, Observador reported. Three players were booked in the 56th minute, André Silva for Porto and Nelson Deossa and Abde for Betis, in the confusion that followed Veiga's celebration, according to the same live coverage, and Antony hit the post soon afterwards.
Both managers changed the game from the bench. Farioli made a triple change in the 59th minute: Samu for André Silva, Oskar Pietuszewski for Borja Sainz and Alberto Costa for Martim Fernandes. Samu scored two minutes later. Pellegrini replied in the 62nd minute with Dani Ceballos for Deossa and Cucho Hernández for Parrott, and Hernández equalized 12 minutes after coming on, at his first chance, according to Observador.
The winner came from a VAR intervention. Francisco Moura fouled Ángel Ortiz in the box, VAR advised Turpin to review the incident and he awarded the penalty, Observador reported. Porto protested that Isco had been offside at the start of the move; Record reported that the offside technology showed he was onside, because of Alan Varela's left shoulder, and that Farioli protested furiously. Isco sent Diogo Costa the wrong way. Late on, Valles made what Farioli called a great save from substitute Santiago Giménez; A Bola's live coverage also reported that Farioli's assistant Lino Godinho was sent off in stoppage time. No player was sent off.
We could have scored two or three more goals by the end, and we deserved something more.
Francesco Farioli, FC Porto coach, to Sport TV, via A Bola (translated from Portuguese)
Turning the game around in the second half was our high point. We should have secured the win.
André Silva, FC Porto forward, to Sport TV, via A Bola (translated from Portuguese)
Real Betis vs Porto: possession, shots and cards
| Stat | Real Betis | FC Porto |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 56% | 44% |
| Shots | 17 | 11 |
| Shots on target | 7 | 5 |
| Blocked shots | 2 | 2 |
| Corners | 5 | 1 |
| Fouls | 14 | 15 |
| Yellow cards | 4 | 3 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Goalkeeper saves | 3 | 4 |
| Passes (completed) | 504 (438) | 393 (321) |
Betis had more of the ball and more of the shooting: 17 shots to Porto's 11, seven on target to five, and five corners to one. Porto scored with two of their five shots on target and Betis with three of their seven; Diogo Costa made four saves and Valles three. Betis completed 87% of their passes to Porto's 82%, and the fouls were close, 15 by Porto to 14 by Betis. Seven yellow cards were shown, four to Betis and three to Porto.
Betis ninth, Porto 30th
After two of eight league-phase games, Betis have six points from two wins, both by 3-2, with six goals scored and four conceded. They are ninth in the 36-team table, the last of the nine clubs on six points and level with the eight above them; Real Madrid, eighth, with the same goal difference and goals scored, are ahead only on away goals.
Porto have no points from two games, with two goals scored and five conceded, and are 30th. They are one of eight clubs without a point: Inter, 29th, are one goal better off on goal difference, and Slavia Prague, 31st, have the same goal difference and goals scored but no away goals. In comments shared by FC Porto, Froholdt said the team had come to Seville for three points and would turn things around in the six games left, Observador reported.
Feyenoord and PSV next
- Real Betis: at home to Feyenoord, Wednesday 21 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
- FC Porto: at home to PSV Eindhoven, Tuesday 20 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
Betis's LaLiga position is on our LaLiga table, and the LaLiga simulator takes the real table as its starting point for the rest of the Spanish season. Feyenoord, 23rd on three points, beat Como 3-2 on Wednesday after losing 5-1 at Barcelona on matchday 1 (our Feyenoord v Como report has the details). PSV are 26th with one point, from a draw and a defeat.
About the sources: the goals, assists, cards, substitutions, lineups, team stats and both clubs' records come from ESPN's match data, and we computed the records and the league-phase table from ESPN full-time results, ranked by points, goal difference, goals scored and away goals scored. The narrative comes from Observador, Record, A Bola, RTP, Flashscore and beIN Sports, summarized in English from Portuguese and Spanish; Porto's quotes are our translations from Portuguese. Real Betis had published no post-match comments when this report was written.