To really understand the magnitude of the Seville derby you need to go back 24 hours from kick-off to Friday morning where, across two pockets of the city, 46,000 fans, many of whom took a half day at work, lit up the sky green, white and red for a training session.

Over at Real Betis’ Estadio Benito Villamarín, 31,000 fans flocked to an open training session, the first before a derby in the Manuel Pellegrini era.

Hundreds marched from Avenida Padre García Tejero to the South stand where, with the sun beaming down, they took shirts off to wave frantically.

It was as clear an indicator as one needs to underline that for all the chatter that this is a much friendlier derby than it was two decades ago, this remains a special occasion, one fans are keen to mobilise for.

Real Betis secured their first LaLiga win over bitter rivals Sevilla in seven years on Sunday

On Friday, 15,000 Sevilla fans turned up at their stadium for a rare open training session

‘The week of the derby is like no other,’ Silvie, a Sevilla fan, told Mail Sport outside the club shop.

‘The difference to all of us is clear. Every day during the week you’re nervous, more nervous than usual, because life in the city is so much more intense for the derby.’

‘I notice it when I go to pick up my son from school,’ Betis midfielder Pablo Fornals, formerly of West Ham, added to Diario AS last week.

‘The kids are already looking forward to the derby and that drives me crazy.’

Antoñito emerged through the ranks at Sevilla and knows better than most what it is like to come out on top in this fixture.

‘There is always a lot of banter,’ he tells Mail Sport. ‘It’s difficult to truly explain the magnitude of this game. The intensity is enormous. In the stands it’s total ecstasy.

‘The best way to explain this derby to the people of Seville is that yes, it’s just three points, but it’s so significant for the city, for your family, there are so many feelings.

‘You get a feeling in your stomach. It is why this derby to me is so special.’

There was a nervousness on Sevilla’s side, with fans worried about a changing of the guard

Former Sevilla striker Antoñito spoke to Mail Sport about what the derby means to supporters

The former Sevilla striker is all smiles during this meeting, with good reason too given this has been a game his side has come out on top in more often than not.

Heading into Sunday night, Betis had won just five of the 33 derbies played in their own stadium since the 1985-86 season: 14 draws and 14 defeats making up the other 28. Betis hadn’t won this fixture in seven years.

Add in too that Sevilla arrived as the only top division team that Betis had not managed to beat in LaLiga under Pellegrini.

But walking around the city there was an overwhelming feeling that the needle was swinging in thee opposite direction. For the first time in a long time Betis staff and its fans believed they were indisputably the No 1 team in the city.

Camaraderie is key at Betis for the most part but particularly so in the week of a derby.

To enhance the feeling of a brotherhood the club held a lunch in the lounge of their Luis de Sol Sports City training facility.

Along with current star players from the first team in Antony and Isco, president Ángel Haro, vice president José Miguel López Catalán, CEO Ramón Alarcón, sports director Manu Fajardo, and iconic former players such as Rafael Gordillo, Juan Merino, Juan José Cañas and Joaquín all attended. It was described to Mail Sport as an overwhelming success.

‘We’re going to win this derby,’ came the vow of Haro. His uber-confidence was infectious even for the most anxious, such as Antony, experiencing this derby for the first time.

Prior to kick-off, Real Betis supporters unfurled a three-storey tifo behind one of the goals

Mail Sport went behind the scenes to learn about DAZN and LaLiga’s broadcast derby plan

Eight hours before kick-off and the carpark is already a sea of activity.

While fans are scattered about the city and basking in the sunshine, work is underway for the television production team, who invited Mail Sport in to see the scale of the operation.

Twenty cameras, which include a drone, are in use for a game that is categorised as Type C – Type A being a mega 40-camera specifically reserved for El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

But, nonetheless, this is a momentous game in LaLiga’s calendar and a production meeting between LaLiga, DAZN and Mediapro representatives is extensive and thorough.

There are extra checks to the 17 microphones dotted around the stadium to capture the atmosphere, while the designated drone pilot, as well as his spotter, are sent to undertake a test run.

In the outside broadcast trucks there is a jovial atmosphere for a small team that make the complicated look simple. Screens of cameras in every bowel of the stadium flicker to life.

While the TV crew, along with Betis staff, are running around trying to get through their extensive list of pre-match jobs, the large-scale policing plan for this fixture is itself well underway.

Almost 400 National Police officers have been drafted in for this fixture, with Betis adding their own stewards and security guards to make it a near 500-man operation that also includes police dogs and a helicopter unit.

The police operation was around 400 officers, with more drafted in for the ‘high risk’ match

The sky turned green with flare smoke as Betis fans created a febrile atmosphere in the city

The hotels housing the two teams, as well as the match referees’, are also designated their own security amid fears of frayed tensions.

For as much as this may be a friendlier occasion off the pitch than it has been in yesteryear – on Sunday it was notable that after months of strained relations, the two club presidents sat together in the stand for the game – this derby will never be without its flashpoints.

During the warm-up came the first explosion when a ball boy angered Sevilla staff before he was shoved to the ground by the kit man for collecting up one of their balls.

A pushing match ensued before staff sprinted to break it up. The friendly derby? Yeah, right.

And that short fuse continued in the game. With 36 minutes gone a plastic bottle was launched from one corner onto the pitch after a late tackle from Sevilla.

Sevilla, against the run of play, took the lead through Ruben Vargas but this always felt like Betis’ moment to step out from the shadow of their city rival and show a changing of the guard.

First, Johnny Cardoso scored a volley to equalise before Cucho Hernandez scored what proved to be the winner on the stroke of half-time.

When the final whistle rang out with more than 58,000 Betis fans packed in the celebrations after seven years of waiting were like anything you’d see after a cup final. The outpouring of emotion got the better of many in the stands as well as those on the pitch.

Sevilla took the lead against the run of play through Ruben Vargas (right) but they let it slip

Cucho Hernandez scored one of Betis’ two goals in return as they managed to come out on top

Adrian, the former Liverpool goalkeeper, was reduced to tears heading back to the dressing room while Antony, on loan at Betis from Manchester United, produced the iconic photo of the night by waving a fan’s flag sat on the shoulders of Adrian.

‘Losing a match of this magnitude and importance is very difficult,’ Sevilla captain Nemanja Gudelj said.

‘It is what I said, like swallowing poison.’

So, Betis finally got over the top, got the better of an old enemy and Pellegrini has finally shaken the monkey from his back. Now the onus is on those in green and white to prove they are Seville’s No 1 for years to come.