Estadio Benito Villamarín

Long before it belonged to Real Betis, this ground served the 1929 Ibero-American Exhibition, and its early names trace that split identity — Estadio de la Exposición, then Estadio Heliópolis, before the club fixed the tie to its own history in 1961 by naming it for a former president, Benito Villamarín. A quarter-century detour followed under a different president's name, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, from 1997 until the board reversed it in 2010 and restored Villamarín.

The ground has been rebuilt more than it has been left alone. Capacity moved from roughly 18,000 at the opening to near 50,000 in time for the 1982 World Cup, when Brazil played two of their group matches here, then held around 52,000 for decades. The most recent change came between 2016 and 2017, when the south stand came down entirely and went back up larger, pushing the total past 60,000.

Off the pitch, the stadium's oddest credit belongs to Guns N' Roses, who played here in June 1992, long before either World Cup football or Copa del Rey finals gave it sporting weight. That gap closes in 2026: for the first time in its history, Villamarín is set to host a cup final, with the Copa del Rey final scheduled for 25 May.

The derby with Sevilla still sets the attendance bar — the record crowd, at just under 58,600, came on that fixture rather than any European night.