Rubi's Real Betis melodrama keeps rolling after victory over Real Madrid | Sid Lowe
09-Mar-2020 14:45:48 | The Guardian
The Betis manager endured an emotional rollercoaster on the way to a sensational win that eases pressure on him
There’s something brilliantly bonkers about Betis, the football club that melodrama makes its own, and Sunday night that was them distilled into 90 minutes. Or maybe even in just the two seconds it took for manager Joan Francesc Ferrer – aka Rubi – to watch another rescue start to unfold, living out another life on the edge. Standing alongside the pitch five minutes before half-time, he appealed for one penalty, appealed for another and only stopped because he then got something even better. Suddenly, the ball was tearing through the air, through his protests and into the net, noise engulfing everyone. Fifty metres away Sidnei was clambering on to the advertising boards at the south end, helped up and held there by Marc Bartra, Emerson and Joaquín, arms wide. Betis were 1-0 up against Real Madrid and 51,521 fans were going mad.
It had all happened so fast that Rubi never had time to lower his arms. Instead, they remained outstretched, the accelerated emotional journey played out in hand signals. As the ball went into the box, there had been the hint of a handball, Rubi’s arms shooting skywards. Then it had dropped and Sergio Ramos had gone after it, bundling Nabil Fekir to the floor, Rubi opening his palms. On the grass Fekir appealed too, Ramos on top of him, but the referee didn’t even have time to give it. The ball ran free, momentarily Thibaut Courtois straightened and Casemiro slowed, and before any of them could react Sidnei had smashed it into the net, Fekir still appealing when the place erupted. Rubi’s palms closing into a claw as everyone leapt from the bench.
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Alavés 1-1 Valencia, Atlético Madrid 2-2 Sevilla, Barcelona 1-0 Real Sociedad, Eibar 1-2 Mallorca, Getafe 0-0 Celta Vigo, Levante 1-1 Granada, Osasuna 1-0 Espanyol, Real Betis 2-1 Real MadridReal Valladolid 1-4 Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal 1-2 Leganés
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