MADRID, 24 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini, 68, lifted his first title in Spanish football this Saturday with the Copa del Rey won by Real Betis this Saturday at the La Cartuja Stadium, in a thrilling final against Valencia that was decided in the penalty shootout.
The ‘Engineer’ arrived at Villamarín in the summer of 2020, with the task of returning the lost category to the Betis team, fighting the previous season not to descend. The Chilean was an old acquaintance in Spanish football and in Seville he managed to create a green and white machine to play good football to return to Europe.
In its first campaign, Betis finished sixth in the League and in its second, this season, the Betis team has spent much of the season in the top four. He still pursues the dream of playing in the Champions League for a ‘Euro Betis’ that is guaranteed to continue growing on the ‘Old Continent’ next year.
The option of the Cup, a title that the Verdiblanco club had won in 1977 and 2005, fueled the euphoria and optimism of a recognizable team with Canales, Fekir, William Carvalho, Bellerín, Álex Moreno, Borja Iglesias and Juanmi. The ‘Ingeniero’ worked his magic to create a reliable and offensive team, and this Saturday at La Cartuja he was crowned with his first title in a long career in Spain.
Pellegrini left his mark wherever he went. “It is a great moment in my life but it would not be fair to compare it with the other institutions,” he said in the run-up to the final. And it is that the Chilean coach already came from beautiful stories in the other three teams that, before Betis, he directed in Spain: Villarreal, Real Madrid and Malaga.
The ‘Submarino’ arrived in 2004 and with Marcos Senna, Diego Forlán, Riquelme and Cazorla led a small Spanish town, a team still settling in the First Division, to touch the final of the European Cup. After the spectacular growth of the yellow team, the Chilean signed for Madrid and a League escaped him in which he set the club’s record for points.
In 2010, Pellegrini began another great stage in Spanish football with three years at Málaga, the best Málaga in history, where he already coincided with Joaquín and Juanmi, now at Betis. The Andalusian team played the Champions League for the first time in its history, and only so far, with the ‘Top 4’ league, and reached the quarterfinals.
Fortune did not smile on the Chilean there either, as Borussia Dortmund brought him down with much controversy in the return leg at Idurna Park, with a scandalous offside goal in the 92nd minute. Seven years later, Pellegrini returned to Spain to be crowned with Betis while on a day-to-day basis he continues to gain followers with his football.