Resurgent Bartra inspiring Betis' European bid and staking claim for Spain spot

In terms of the very top and very bottom of the table in Spain, there doesn’t seem to be a great deal to play for. Barcelona are going to win the league, the remaining Champions League spots are all but assured and while Deportivo have given themselves an outside shot of survival, the bottom three look likely to be those that drop.

However, there is still a battle for the Europa League places, with Sevilla hoping to gain an automatic spot with victory in the Copa del Rey final against the league leaders this weekend. Vincenzo Montella’s side can still qualify through their standing in LaLiga, however, coming from behind to draw in a crucial match up with Sevilla on Saturday.

The team that really profited from that comeback though was Real Betis, who did the business in Girona on Friday night to secure a fifth consecutive victory and strengthen their place in fifth as a result.

It’s been an excellent year for Quique Setien’s side after all, and it’s impossible not to notice the impact of one player in particular.

When Marc Bartra broke through the ranks at Barcelona, there was a great deal of expectation on his shoulders having been earmarked as the heir apparent to Gerard Pique. With the former Manchester United defender only four years his senior, however, and Javier Mascherano favoured alongside him, the product of the Catalan’s famed La Masia academy was usually forced to play right-back, and is somewhat harshly remembered by many for failing to keep up with Gareth Bale’s electric pace in the 2014 Copa del Rey final - exactly four years ago from the date of publishing.

He eventually moved to Borussia Dortmund, but an attack on the team bus ahead of the Champions League semi-final with Monaco this time last year - from which the defender was both physically and mentally scarred, blighted his time in Germany.

Bartra wanted a return to Spain and got it with Betis, who signed the 27-year-old at the end of January with a real need to solidify their defence.

Setien had the side playing some highly entertaining attacking football after all, but just like at Las Palmas his side were left extremely vulnerable at the back by their enterprising approach.

By the time Bartra arrived, the team were down in 13th owing to the third worst defensive record in LaLiga (44 conceded). In the 11 games since - with the Spain international starting at the heart of the defence in every one - only Real Madrid have picked up more points (25), while only Atletico (6), Barcelona (7) and Valencia (8) have conceded fewer goals than Betis’ nine, with the January signing inspiring quite the turnaround.

The club’s win rate has jumped from 38.1% without the centre-back to 72.7% with him, conceding an average of just 0.82 goals per game down from 2.10. Bartra is perhaps unsurprisingly the team’s highest rated player by a distance, with a score of 7.60 enough to rank fourth of players with ten or more appearances in Spain’s top-flight, earning a place in WhoScored.com’s form rankings leaderboard for the third week running.

As Setien prepares to face his former club this weekend he is taking the plaudits for turning Betis into a front runner for a European finish having already picked up 13 points more than they did last season, while Las Palmas are set for the drop. However, it’s Bartra’s arrival that has really helped the coach to strike a balance between defence and attack, and the former Barca-man is arguably in the form of his life.

With the World Cup approaching and options thin on the ground beyond the long-standing pairing of Pique and Ramos, Bartra will hope to not only be on the plane but prove that he could yet step up to replace one or the other when they do come to retire.