Real Betis says club leading scorer Ruben Castro was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of having assaulted a former girlfriend.
The 31-year-old striker was reportedly detained by police in private after training ended. He appeared before a judge at a Seville court in the afternoon after a woman filed charges, police said. Club president Miguel Guillen said lawyers have been hired in a bid to secure Castro's release.
''We have to trust in justice,'' Guillen said, while club representative Jose Antonio Bosch said outside the court that the club is ''relying on the presumption of innocence'' to obtain the release.
Castro scored 18 goals this season for Betis, which is seventh in the league, one position short of a Europa League berth with one match left.
Betis is two points behind sixth-place Malaga and travels to 11th-place Levante on Saturday. Malaga is at Barcelona on the same day.
