Real Betis avoided a damaging defeat but failed to convince after being held to a 1-1 draw by a resilient S.C. Braga in their Europa League quarter-final first leg.

Florian Grillitsch stunned Betis early with a clever near-post backheel, raising immediate concerns about the Spanish side’s defensive organisation.

The visitors needed a second-half penalty from Cucho Hernández to salvage the draw, leaving the tie delicately balanced ahead of the return leg in Seville.

Both teams had shown resilience in the previous round, overturning deficits with four-goal performances, but this encounter exposed inconsistencies rather than strength.

Braga struck as early as the fifth minute at the Estadio Municipal, where Grillitsch’s quick movement and improvisation caught the Betis defence completely off guard.

Goalkeeper Pau López was left helpless as the Austrian flicked the ball into the net with precision.

Braga goalkeeper Lukáš Horníček then produced a series of impressive saves to frustrate Betis, denying Marc Bartra, Abde Ezzalzouli, and Hernández in the first half.

However, Braga’s resistance was finally broken in the 61st minute after Jean-Baptiste Gorby fouled Ezzalzouli inside the box.

Hernández stepped up and calmly converted the penalty, sending Horníček the wrong way to restore parity.

Elsewhere, attention now turns to the remaining quarter-final fixtures, with Nottingham Forest F.C. set to face FC Porto in Portugal.

Aston Villa F.C. will travel to Italy to meet Bologna F.C. 1909, while SC Freiburg host RC Celta de Vigo.

Despite the draw, questions linger over Betis’ ability to control games at this level, with Braga proving they are far from underdogs in this tie.