“It's not just a final, it's writing the history of a club”

The centre-back and one of the captains of Real Betis Marc Bartra said Tuesday that the final of the Conference League on Wednesday in Wroclaw (Poland) against Chelsea is not just that, but “write the history of a club” as the Andalusian side dispute for the first time a European title.

“It's not just a final, it's writing the history of a club like ours,” said Bartra, who highlighted the potential of the rival and said that, despite this, Betis will give his “all” in a duel to which they arrive after “having grown in the course”, referring to the evolution and growth of the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini's team throughout the successive rounds of the competition.

The Tarragona-born centre-back, who later appeared at a press conference with Pellegrini and Isco Alarcon, asked the Betis fans that have moved massively to Wroclaw “to leave their soul in the stands” and added: “We are going to leave it on the field”.

“We know how happy they are and being here we have made many people happy,” said the defender from Sant Jaume dels Domenys, who on Tuesday morning has clicked in a brief 20-minute walk through Wroclaw the feelings of the thousands of Betis fans who have travelled to Poland, with and without tickets.

Regarding what Betis has that Chelsea does not have, he considered that the Beticism is, above the potential of the English team, “a family” for which the match is “something more” and that they face it with a different “degree of commitment” for what it means and with the experience of experienced players like Isco, as in his day they were for him in Barcelona Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.

He commented that, on days like this, he remembers those who have been by his side “in good and not so good times” such as his family, teammates and club staff; and on whether he has thought about scoring any goals, Marc Bartra hinted to the club's media that he has, although he said he preferred to avoid them. As a Barcelona player, Bartra won, among many other titles, two Champions League titles (2011 and 2015) and a Club World Cup (2015).