Pellegrini: “I expect a difficult match against a great rival”

Real Betis head coach Manuel Pellegrini spoke to the media today ahead of his side’s trip to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu tomorrow to face Real Madrid. Pellegrini spoke about the type of match he expects, and provided some updates on his squad.

“I expect a difficult match against a great rival, who has shown the quality that they have both individually and collectively, they are the champion of Spain and Europe for a reason,” Pellegrini told the media today. “We are going to play as we always try to play, the last matches there have been balanced , but the statistics are not useful to know what the next game is going to be. What is useful is to have the personality of not going to look for a result, changing everything one does because it is Real Madrid. We are going to play with the consideration that we take before all the rivals, with the different tactical differences, but we are going to try to be the same Betis as always”.

Pellegrini, who of course used to manage Real Madrid himself 12 years ago, also provided an update on his midfielder William Carvalho:

“William Carvalho could not recover from the blow he suffered in the previous game, so he is not on the list of those summoned to play, but both he and Germán Pezzella are on the list of travelers, who asked to go despite not being able to participate,” Pellegrini explained. “That reflects once again what we just talked about the internal cohesion of this squad. The very fact of not being able to play, but being there, also values ​​​​both in that aspect”.