Pepe Mel laments Real Betis defeat

Real Betis coach Pepe Mel has admitted that his side deservedly lost to Real Mallorca in La Liga on Monday.

Tomer Hemed's first-half goal was enough for the Islanders to register a 1-0 victory at the Iberostar Stadium.

"In the first half, Mallorca were a bit more successful and could have gone in at the break 4-0 up," he told reporters after the match. "The team changed things for the second half, but we cannot play a 40-50 minutes as we have done. It seemed that there was only one team playing for things.

"We were there for 45 minutes and it is very difficult to reach your aim like that. Our intensity has to be much higher.

"This is a day to rethink things because we have not done well. We depend on ourselves to get into the European places and that is the only positive thing from this game."

Betis are currently seventh in La Liga with 52 points from 36 matches.