Real Betis defeats Real Madrid 1-0 as Troy Parrott’s late strike ends perfect start to La Liga season

Real Madrid walked into Seville on September 4 with a flawless record and walked out with a reminder that La Liga doesn’t care about your winning streak. Troy Parrott’s goal in the 81st minute gave Real Betis a 1-0 victory, snapping Madrid’s perfect start to the 2026-27 season in front of a raucous home crowd at Estadio La Cartuja.

The result is the kind of upset that makes league football endlessly entertaining. Madrid had collected nine points from their first three matches and looked every bit the title contenders. Betis, coming off a 5-2 hammering at the hands of Levante, looked like a team searching for answers.

A first half of frustration for Madrid

José Mourinho’s side dominated possession through the opening 45 minutes but couldn’t find a way past Betis’s organized backline. Betis sat deep and made Madrid work for every inch of space in the final third. The teams headed into halftime at 0-0, a scoreline that suited Betis far more than it suited a Madrid side accustomed to early goals in their opening fixtures.

Parrott makes his mark

The decisive moment came from an unlikely source. Troy Parrott, the Irish striker who joined Betis from AZ Alkmaar for a reported €20 million fee, entered the match as a substitute in the 69th minute. Just twelve minutes later, he had scored the only goal of the game.

It was only Parrott’s third appearance in a Betis shirt, making the timing of his contribution all the more remarkable.

Context and consequences

For context on how lopsided this rivalry has been recently, the last meeting between these two sides in January 2026 ended 5-1 in Madrid’s favor. That result made this defensive shutout from Betis all the more surprising. Going from conceding five goals to conceding zero against the same opponent is a significant turnaround.

Betis climbed to seventh place in the table with this victory. After the embarrassing Levante defeat, beating Real Madrid at home is a statement, but doing it after a 5-2 loss the previous week suggests genuine resilience in the squad.

For Parrott specifically, the goal validates Betis’s investment. A €20 million fee for a striker from AZ Alkmaar raised some eyebrows, but scoring a winner against Real Madrid in your third appearance is a pretty effective way to win over skeptics.

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