Real Betis cantera Madrid, Juventus and Spain. Betis face a battle with city rivals Sevilla to sign the best local prospects. As at senior level, over recent years Sevilla have been slightly superior to Betis, both in terms of success in youth competitions and producing quality players for the first team. The best achievements of the Betis senior side in the early 21st century, when they won the 2004–05 Copa del Rey and finished 4th in the league in the same season to qualify for the Champions League, were accomplished with a high number of homegrown players in the squad including Capi, David
Real Betis position, thus qualifying to the UEFA Cup.In the European campaign, Betis knocked out Fenerbahçe (4–1 on aggregate) and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (4–1) before losing to defeated finalists Bordeaux (3–2). In 1997, 20 years after winning the trophy for the first time, the club returned to the final of the Copa del Rey – again held in Madrid, although this time at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium – losing 2–3 against Barcelona after extra time. Incidentally, "Barça" was the club Serra Ferrer would leave Betis for that summer, to be replaced by former player Luis Aragonés. Aragonés would only last one season