LIVE: Real Betis vs Real Madrid – La Liga

Betis won 3-2 at Girona in La Liga on Tuesday in their last outing.

Marc Roca, Abde Ezzalzouli and Rodrigo Riquelme were all on the scoresheet as the away side came from a goal down to win.

Real’s faint hopes of overhauling Barcelona in La Liga suffered a further blow on Thursday, with both Eder Militao and Arda Guler ruled out for the rest of the season.

Brazilian defender Militao has a left thigh injury, while Turkish attacking midfielder Guler is sidelined with a right thigh problem, the club said.

For now, neither Militao, 28, nor 21-year-old Guler is considered at risk of missing the World Cup finals.

Real Madrid predicted starting lineup

Lunin; Alexander-Arnold, Rudiger, Huijsen, Carreras; Valverde, Bellingham, Tchouameni, Guler; Vinicius, Mbappe

📋✅ Our squad for the match!
🆚 @RealBetis_en pic.twitter.com/Veq98xBI0u

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 24, 2026

Barcelona announced on Thursday that Lamine Yamal’s domestic season in Spain is over, but that the international forward should be fit to represent his country at this year’s World Cup.

The 18-year-old striker helped Spain to the Euro 2024 title, while also lifting La Liga with Barca last season.

Yamal sustained the injury while scoring the only goal of Wednesday’s game against Celta Vigo from the penalty spot.

Al Jazeera Sport has taken a closer look at how Yamal’s injury grabbed global headlines after their football game on Wednesday, and what the road to World Cup 2026 may now look like for the Catalan.

Click here to read.

How bad is Lamine Yamal’s injury? Will he make Spain’s World Cup opener? https://t.co/JBFsJ9yLi4 pic.twitter.com/sKvVPZVDew

— AJE Sport (@AJE_Sport) April 23, 2026

You can get involved in our live coverage by voting in our polls on X, including who you think will lift the La Liga title this season:

As Real Madrid head to Real Betis hoping to close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to six points, who will win La Liga? Vote below 👇

⚽️ LIVE #RealBetisRealMadrid updates: https://t.co/oaNurJhtd6

— AJE Sport (@AJE_Sport) April 24, 2026

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington has no objections to Iranian players participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but he added the players will not be allowed to bring people with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with them.

Since the United States-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, Iran’s participation in this year’s edition of FIFA’s global showpiece has been in doubt because all of the country’s group-stage matches are scheduled to be played in the United States.

“Nothing from the US has told them they can’t come,” Rubio told reporters.

“The problem with Iran would be not their athletes. It would be some of the other people they would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the IRGC. We may not be able to let them in, but not the athletes themselves,” Rubio said.

“They can’t bring a bunch of IRGC terrorists into our country and pretend that they are journalists and athletic trainers,” Rubio added.

Washington has designated the IRGC as a “foreign terrorist organisation”.

Marie-Louise Eta made history when she was last week appointed as the first female head coach of a men’s team in Europe’s top five leagues.

Al Jazeera’s Samantha Johnson takes a look in our latest edition of Game Theory:

Benfica’s ‌Gianluca Prestianni has been handed a six-match suspension for discriminatory conduct ⁠that was deemed ⁠homophobic in a Champions League match against Real Madrid, UEFA announced.

Prestianni will be banned for two ⁠more matches after UEFA said on Friday that a further three-match suspension would be “subject to a probationary period of two years, starting from the date ⁠of the present decision”. He has already served a one-match provisional suspension.

The Argentinian winger was accused of directing a racist slur at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr during the Spanish side’s 1-0 Champions League playoff first-leg win ‌in February.

The first leg was suspended for 11 minutes shortly after Vinicius gave Real the lead early in the second half.

Television footage showed Prestianni covering his mouth with his shirt repeatedly before making comments that Vinicius and nearby teammates interpreted as a racial slur against the 25-year-old.

Prestianni had denied the accusation that he had made ⁠a racist comment, saying Vinicius had misheard him. Real’s ⁠Aurelien Tchouameni said the Argentinian told him he did not call Vinicius a “monkey” but directed a homophobic comment at him.

UEFA also said it would request FIFA to extend the ⁠suspension worldwide.

Prestianni suspended ​for homophobic discriminatory conduct in Champions League match ‌against ​Real Madrid in February. https://t.co/AW9V8qjSsG

— AJE Sport (@AJE_Sport) April 24, 2026

Hello, welcome and thanks for joining our live coverage of Real Betis against Real Madrid in La Liga.

Barcelona, who beat Celta Vigo on Wednesday, top La Liga by nine points with only six games to play – although one is a Clasico.

With both Spanish giants eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, the league title is the last piece of silverware for the sides to battle for this season.

Betis are also facing an uphill task if they are to reach next season’s Champions League as they trail Atletico Madrid – in the fourth and final qualifying spot – by eight points.

I’m Kevin Hand, and I’ll bring you the live build-up, with all the permutations in the league, and photo coverage of the day, plus the news, analysis and opinion surrounding the game.

Manasi Pathak will bring you the team news as it lands and our comprehensive text commentary stream of the match.

New 6th spot unlocked 🔓 pic.twitter.com/S0XCTzKOep

— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) April 24, 2026