Pellegrini: “I don’t think anyone is thinking about the Champions League Final, but about winning at home”

Real Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini says both clubs will be focusing on the final match of the LaLiga season at the Bernabeu in a pre-match press conference.

“We are going to find Real Madrid, champion of the League; with a great squad, with players accustomed to going out to win any game regardless of where they play it. I don’t think anyone is thinking about the Champions League Final, but rather thinking about having a good individual performance and winning as a team on their pitch.”

Real Madrid have gone four straight matches without scoring a goal or posting a win at home. Pellegrini was asked about the defensive streak his side has put up when visiting the Bernabeu.

“These are statistics that one reads, but each match is different. I wouldn’t care about winning 3-4, so if you win and also leave the net blank, even better; but they are not statistics that you really consider before the game. You have to go play against a difficult opponent in their pitch to try to put in a good performance and hopefully leave the goal blank”.

Pellegrini was also asked about the quality of this Real Madrid squad and if this is the best he has seen of them in recent seasons. He finished with an answer to a question of whether he believes Real will be distracted by the following Champions League Final match with Liverpool.

“I haven’t had time to see Real Madrid for all these years. Real Madrid is always Real Madrid, it has a great squad that plays in all the championships, regardless of who plays, it’s a very competitive team, even more so at the Bernabéu. But comparing it with other teams is very difficult for me.”

“I think they are going to be focused on winning with their fans, in their stadium, in the last game before going to play the Champions League. I don’t know how to take care of the Champions League, if playing badly, I don’t think it’s good for them, and if you don’t play with 100% of your senses put into the game, you usually play poorly. I think we will see a very competitive Madrid that will want to show what a team they are and why they are in the Champions League Final. We don’t expect nothing other than that.”