# 1996–97 Real Betis season

A season after promotion, Betis finished third and reached the Copa del Rey final.

## Squad

    Squad at end of season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ESP | Pedro Jaro |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Jaime |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Luis Fernández |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Juan Antonio Ureña |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Josete |
| 6 | DF | ESP | Juan Merino |
| 7 | MF | ESP | Alexis Trujillo |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Luis Márquez |
| 9 | FW | ARG | Cristián Tolisso |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Juan José Cañas Gutiérrez |
| 11 | FW | ESP | Alfonso |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 12 | MF | YUG | Albert Nađ |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Toni Prats |
| 14 | DF | ESP | Roberto Ríos |
| 15 | FW | ESP | Pier |
| 16 | FW | POL | Wojciech Kowalczyk |
| 17 | DF | CRO | Robert Jarni |
| 18 | MF | CRO | Nenad Bjelica |
| 19 | FW | ESP | Juan Sabas |
| 20 | DF | ESP | Tomás Olías |
| 21 | DF | BIH | Risto Vidaković |
| 25 | MF | NGA | Finidi George |
| 26 | DF | ESP | Juan Redondo |
| 27 | MF | ESP | Capi |
| 28 | DF | ESP | Fernando Varela |
| 29 | GK | ESP | José Manuel Pinto |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from |
| MF | Finidi George | Ajax Amsterdam |
| DF | Luis Fernandez | Racing Santander |
| MF | Albert Nađ | Partizan Belgrade |
| GK | Toni Prats | Celta |
| MF | Nenad Bjelica | Albacete |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To |
| GK | José Luis Diezma | Celta |
| DF | Sánchez Jara | Racing Santander |
| MF | Oscar Arpon | Racing Santander |
| MF | Jose Mari | Athletic Bilbao |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name | from |
| DF | Juan Redondo | Betis B |
| MF | Capi | Betis B |
| MF | Fernando Varela | Betis B |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| FW | Vlada Stošić | Atlante | |

## Competitions
### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Barcelona | 42 | 28 | 6 | 8 | 102 | 48 | +54 | 90 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Deportivo La Coruña | 42 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 57 | 30 | +27 | 77 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Real Betis | 42 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 81 | 46 | +35 | 77 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 5 | Atlético Madrid | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 76 | 64 | +12 | 71 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Athletic Bilbao | 42 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 72 | 57 | +15 | 64 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
* 1 2 BET 1–2 DEP; DEP 3–0 BET
* ↑ Since Barcelona, winners of 1996–97 Copa del Rey, was qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, losing cup finalists Real Betis earned a spot in the first round of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
* ↑ VLD 0–0 ATH; ATH 0–0 VLD

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | D | W | L | W | D | W | D | L | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | W | W | D | D | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | D | W | D | W | D | L | D | D | L | L | W |
| Position | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |

#### Matches
### Copa del Rey

Second Round
Third Round
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Semifinals

#### Final
## Statistics
### Player statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | 1996–97 La Liga | 1996–97 La Liga | 1996–97 Copa del Rey | 1996–97 Copa del Rey |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 13 | GK | ESP | Toni Prats | 40 | -45 | 40 | -45 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | ESP | Tomás Olías | 38 | 6 | 25+3 | 5 | 9+1 | 1 |
| 21 | DF | BIH | Risto Vidaković | 35 | 6 | 30 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| 14 | DF | ESP | Roberto Ríos | 45 | 3 | 35+1 | 3 | 7+2 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | ESP | Juan Merino | 43 | 1 | 35+1 | 0 | 6+1 | 1 |
| 25 | MF | NGA | Finidi George | 42 | 11 | 33+3 | 10 | 5+1 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | ESP | Alexis | 45 | 7 | 38 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| 12 | MF | YUG | Albert Nađ | 36 | 0 | 23+7 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | CRO | Robert Jarni | 42 | 5 | 34+2 | 5 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | ESP | Alfonso | 51 | 27 | 40+1 | 25 | 7+3 | 2 |
| 15 | FW | ESP | Pier | 42 | 11 | 26+8 | 9 | 6+2 | 2 |
| 1 | GK | ESP | Pedro Jaro | 13 | -7 | 2 | -1 | 11 | -6 |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Cañas | 43 | 5 | 19+13 | 2 | 9+2 | 3 |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Jaime | 33 | 0 | 19+5 | 0 | 8+1 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | POL | Wojciech Kowalczyk | 30 | 8 | 14+12 | 6 | 3+1 | 2 |
| 18 | MF | CRO | Nenad Bjelica | 35 | 4 | 10+17 | 2 | 3+5 | 2 |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Luis Fernández | 22 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | ESP | Juan Sabas | 31 | 7 | 2+21 | 3 | 6+2 | 4 |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Luis Márquez | 18 | 0 | 7+4 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Josete | 13 | 1 | 6+3 | 1 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Juan Antonio Ureña | 17 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | ESP | Fernando Varela | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | ESP | Capi | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | ESP | Juan Redondo | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | YUG | Vlada Stosic | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
* Source: https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/t/t1996-978.html?tab=partits