Pellegrini’s winning spirit

With the spotlights divided between Joaquín and Borja Iglesias, a coach who changed the history of Betis in just two campaigns walked in the shadow of the lawn of La Cartuja. Manuel Pellegrini, the architect of the resurrection of a squad that raised as many doubts as despair three seasons ago, was smiling after winning a title that perfectly reflects his work in Heliopolis. Without wanting to focus his sights, from an always prudent speech, the Chilean comes out of this final as the man who changed everything. “We have created a winning mentality,” Canales assured this newspaper in the run-up to the final. “And Pellegrini is very much to blame for that.”

After 17 years without savoring the honey of a title, Betis surrenders to the figure of its coach and his ability to turn the transcendental into normality. “From Tuesday we will try to work to try to reach the Champions League positions,” he said minutes after achieving victory in the penalty shootout against Valencia. His ambition varied from the comfortable lines of previous projects. He traced new paths that lit the light of some players and made the entire Betis fans blink. The plan. This is what players and fans have called it for months. And the Engineer’s plan found as a result a step forward in the desire to break the history of the Verdiblanco club.

The future is in the hands of Pellegrini. The Chilean knows it, insisting on his intention to continue in the Verdiblanco team fulfilling his contract despite the fact that offers jump on the table from afar. Ángel Haro, president of Betis, knows this, handing over the keys to the coach so that he could build foundations as solid as those he had drawn at Villarreal or Málaga. Fate wanted his first title in Spain to come now. With a Betis surrendered to its power to multiply the competitiveness of a team. “His idea never changed. Not even when things weren’t going well,” said Canales.. And Pellegrini wants more. Until measuring the real ceiling of a team that he believed again 17 years later.