Betis stage comeback from initial blow to earn draw in quarter-final opener versus Braga

The home team began with energy and tested the Betis backline from the start. Within three minutes, Pau Lopez pulled off a solid stop to thwart Braga skipper Ricardo Horta from opening the scoring early on.

Yet Lopez was powerless against Bragas follow up attack soon afterwards when a corner by Diego Rodrigues reached Florian Grillitsch near the post and the Austrian striker slotted it home neatly for his third strike this campaign.

For a brief moment Betis believed they had pulled one back right away as Marc Bartra bundled the ball in from close quarters but the effort was swiftly disallowed for offside.

Bartra felt disappointment once more around the halfway mark of the opening period when his firm header struck the upright and then Lukas Hornicek had to make a superb clearance to stop Abde Ezzalzouli from making it level.

The Seville outfit kept gaining traction as the half wore on and it took a brilliant intervention from Hornicek to deny Cucho Hernandez an equaliser on 37 minutes.

Still Manuel Pellegriniss men managed to level things up 15 minutes into the restart. Following a foul by Jean-Baptiste Gorby on Ezzalzouli in the penalty area official Felix Zwayer pointed to the spot without delay and Hernandez fired the kick home with conviction.

The closing moments brought high tension as both squads knew another goal might decide everything.

In the end despite everyones hard work no late decider emerged. Thus the second leg in Seville next week will be decisive with the victors advancing to face either Freiburg or Celta Vigo in the semi-finals.