MADRID, 14 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Real Betis, Manuel Pellegrini, lamented “a hard blow” this Thursday when the Betis team was eliminated from the Europa League due to the defeat at home (2-3) against Rangers, a painful moment because they had everything in their favor to advance.
“Not having qualified for the next phase of the Europa League here at home is a hard blow, a very strange match. They reached the goal three times and scored three times, and we reached the goal countless times and couldn't convert. In that corner In the end they made us the third and we became desperate and lost,” he said in statements to Movistar Plus, reported by Europa Press.
The Andalusian coach insisted on those missed chances but also pointed out the errors behind in the goals of a Rangers that knocked Betis out of first place to leave them third, condemned to play in the Conference League. “We had been doing well. We had no means of containment, no center backs, we had to improvise Marc Roca, we were left without Guido. We had a good first half, with goals, with arrivals enough to have finished the game,” he said.
“The blow is hard, but as I said that the point in Prague was difficult to get here at home, we had to have secured it. We are going to try to recover and resume European competition with the Conference, continue fighting as far as we can. Ranger arrived at both times very easy, offensively we played a good game but defensively we gave ourselves space for counterattacks,” he commented.
“We have to focus on the League, the Copa del Rey, and we have until February to play the Conference, where we will try to go as far as possible. In football there are many difficult moments. We have had few setbacks, but today hurts because we had everything to have continued in the Europa League,” he concluded.