WROCLAW — If there was a moment to sum up the transformation of Antony from hapless in Manchester to hero in Seville, it arrived in the first leg of Real Betis’s Conference League semi-final against Fiorentina.
It came after Antony had a shot, on his favoured left foot, blocked on the edge of the box and responded by lashing the rebounded ball into the goal with his weaker right foot.
It was a goal which left the main stand of the Benito Villamarin Stadium literally shaking – and led beaten goalkeeper David De Gea, Antony’s ex-Manchester United colleague, to reflect: “I trained with him 1,000 times and he never scored a goal with his right foot in any training session! But when players have confidence, they show how good they are.”
Since his January arrival on loan, the £81m winger has certainly begun to show how good he can be.
SPECTACULAR FINISH BY ANTONY
The Brazilian with a perfectly placed curling strike to give Real Betis a late lead
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With his strike against Valencia last Friday, Antony took his total for Betis to nine from 25 matches – four of them in the Conference League.
He has also created five assists and his connection with veteran playmaker Isco, similarly rejuvenated under head coach Manuel Pellegrini, has added an exciting dimension to Chelsea’s Conference League final opponents – a team with attacking flair but defensive fallibility who have just finished sixth in La Liga.
It is a stunning resurgence from a player who made only eight substitute appearances in the Premier League before January – and whose sole goal was a Carabao Cup penalty against Barnsley.
Betis’s former West Ham and Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian has witnessed Antony’s revival at close quarters and tells The i Paper that he sees a player “enjoying himself enormously and who is happy and his family too.
“You see him playing with happiness and, ultimately, as a professional you have to look for that happiness and that place where you fit.”
For Betis, a major subplot ahead of their first European final is whether it will be the 25-year-old’s last appearance in their green and white stripes.
“I always say that coming to Betis is the best decision I’ve made,” Antony told reporters after Friday’s 1-1 draw with Valencia when he pulled on a shirt adorned by his nickname in the dressing room, “Antonio de Triana” – a reference to a popular district of Seville.
In an interview with TNT Sports Brazil two days earlier, he had wept as he discussed his troubles in Manchester, describing “not having the strength to even play with my son [and] going days without eating”.
Adrian believes there would be nothing better for the player than to remain with Betis, a club whose progress under Pellegrini, a Premier League winner with Manchester City, belies their famous old motto of “Long live Betis, even if they lose”.
“I think a club like Betis is an ideal place for him so he can continue growing because the people here have showed him that affection and he’s earned that popularity in very little time,” Adrian says.
Noting United’s churn of managers and the fact Antony “hasn’t ending up fitting in”, the goalkeeper adds: “He’s arrived in Seville and we’ve received him with open arms and from day one I think he’s adapted phenomenally well, as if he’s always been here.
“We’ve achieved great things getting to our first European final and you see him so excited as if he’s been playing here for years rather than not even six months.
“Of course, it’d be great if he could get that stability here with us but we know his situation is that he’s on loan. I understand the club are in conversations with United to try to lengthen the arrangement but what will be will be.”
If another loan would suit Betis, United are believed to be confident of finding a buyer for Antony, who has two years left on his contract.
And if the reported asking price of £40m is correct, that could prove beyond Betis.
The Seville club once broke the world transfer record when signing another Brazilian winger, Denilson, for £21.5m in 1998 but have yet to pass the £30m mark for any incoming transfer.
If this is to be Antony’s last match, there is reason to be hopeful of a happy ending.
Adrian contrasts Chelsea’s youthfulness with the European trophy-winning experience of key individuals at Betis, starting with the inspirational Isco “who has found himself again [and] makes the difference” and who, at 33, has just earned a recall to the Spain squad.
Like the Real Madrid old boy, centre-back Marc Bartra is a Champions League winner with Barcelona while midfielder Pablo Fornals won the Conference League with West Ham.
Adrian himself, who may start amid doubts over the fitness of first-choice goalkeeper Fran Vieites, was Liverpool’s shoot-out hero in the 2019 Uefa Super Cup against Chelsea.
Now back at his boyhood club, Adrian describes Betis as “one of the most long-suffering teams on the planet because we’ve experienced quite difficult moments with relegation, promotion and dealing with a lot of success for the other team in the city [seven-times Europa League winners Sevilla].”
Now comes their big opportunity – and if they are to take it, expect that man Antony to play a leading role.
Additional reporting by Juan Antonio Solis
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/GPYVt1F
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