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 proceedings, Lopera sold 94% of the shares that he owned (51% of Betis total shares) to Bitton Sport, fronted by Luis Oliver, for the surprisingly low figure of €16 million, leaving Lopera with only minor shares; Oliver had already reportedly taken two football clubs, Cartagena and Xerez, to the brink of bankruptcy. Before the sale could be officially sanctioned, however, Ayala froze Lopera shareholdings. Left with nothing, despite putting down a €1 million deposit, Oliver hastily bought a nominal number of shares from a third party and was voted onto the board of directors by the existing members (all former