William Carvalho believes Real Betis will qualify to the UEFA Champions League next season after 17 years of absence, despite strong competitions from other teams in LaLiga.
The 29-year-old Portuguese midfielder has been a revelation for Los Verdiblancos, playing 21 matches in LaLiga and 30 appearances in all competitions.
“Of course we want to win the title, we want to play in Champions League,” he said during virtual call organized by LaLiga.
“But we are not thinking too much about qualifying for the Champions League, we are looking at match by match, because it’s very important for the next few matches.
“We have to win if we want to stay top of the table, we have to work a lot, right at the end of season.”
Betis has been a surprise package in LaLiga this season, occupying the 3rd place at the moment as they collected 40 points out of 23 games, higher than Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Villareal.
The Seville-based club have also recorded second-most goals in LaLiga this season, scoring 41 goals more than any other team, just behind Real Madrid who recorded 48 goals.
“This year we score a lot of goals but you need to defend well too.
“You can score lots of goals, but you cannot let a lot of goals scored against you, so we really need to score goals to get top of the table, and that is why we need to continue to score.
“The success of Betis at the moment are the results of player’s hard work and effort of they are putting…coaches, everyone at Betis, they support the squad.”
Since joining Betis in 2018 after leaving Sporting CP, Carvalho is playing with more confidence in LaLiga, especially under the guidance of manager Manuel Pellegrini.
“Coach spoken to me a lot, he really trusts me and I believes him too, he likes the way I’m playing, training well with other midfielders, they worked very hard. With good quality playing team, it makes things easier.
“Well, it’s true in previous season I haven’t played regularly, but now I believes with the way I’m playing, and I think I can contribute a lot to my team.
“This season I started very well, I have been playing consistently because I’m working very well, and I’m going to continue to work hard.”