Seville’s La Cartuja will host a Champions League meeting on Wednesday 14 October in which Real Betis and Porto bring contrasting opening-night results, while two Mexican internationals seek a route back into club action. Álvaro Fidalgo and Santiago Giménez have each gone two matches without playing and will be hoping for an opportunity in the second round of fixtures.
The match begins at 13:00 Central Mexico time and will be shown in Mexico on Fox One. It has added significance ahead of Mexico’s next Concacaf Nations League assignment, with both players needing competitive minutes to preserve their rhythm.
Two Mexicans awaiting an opening
- Fidalgo has featured only three times this season: twice in LaLiga and once in the Champions League.
- The Betis midfielder was an unused substitute against Deportivo La Coruña before the international break.
- After returning from Mexico duty, he was not selected by Manuel Pellegrini for the weekend match against Osasuna.
- Giménez initially played three successive games after joining Porto, appearing twice in the Primeira Liga and once in Europe.
- The striker then remained on the bench against Benfica before joining the Mexican national team, and did not play in Porto’s weekend fixture with Marítimo after his return.
For Porto, the trip to Andalusia is also an early chance to put their European campaign on course. The Portuguese side opened with a 2-0 loss to Manchester City, while Betis began by winning 3-2 away to Lille.
A rare meeting between the clubs
Betis and Porto have met only once before, in a July 2019 friendly that ended 1-1. Zé Luís scored for Porto and Juanmi Jiménez replied for the Spanish club.
Betis’ overall record against Portuguese opposition stands at three wins, two draws and three defeats. Their 2025-26 European run ended in the Europa League quarter-finals, where Braga progressed 5-3 on aggregate.
Porto arrive with a difficult recent record against Spanish opponents, having lost four of their last five such matches. Their latest defeats against a LaLiga club came in the 2023-24 Champions League group stage, when Barcelona won 1-0 in Portugal and 2-1 in Spain.
Their only victory across eight matches against Spanish teams was a 2-0 group-stage win over Athletic Club in the 2014-15 season. At La Cartuja, Porto will try to reverse that pattern, while Fidalgo and Giménez wait to see whether the evening gives Mexico’s squad two much-needed minutes-makers.
