Manuel Pellegrinitechnician of Betisappeared in the press room of the stadium Benito Villamarin to analyze his team’s 1-0 victory against athletic club that returns the verdiblancos provisionally to the positions of Champions League. The Engineer, in addition, valued the expulsion by direct red to Fekirwho believes that rivals punish too much with fouls that are not pointed out.
match evaluation
“I don’t know whether to compare it with other games, but I was very happy. First, because we recovered defensive security, joining Paul with Guido against a team with so much cross and so many headers, I think it worked. Athletic practically didn’t create any chances for us. a very good first half with a goal and two or three more very clear chances. We were once again a looser team with the ball and we competed for three points against a very difficult rival like Athletic, a complete game even with one man less in the last 15 minutes “.
Has Betis come out of its worst stretch?
“It is hard for me to hear that we have been in the worst stretch of the season. There are two months to go, we are fighting for a Champions League position in LaLiga, to be in the quarterfinals of the Europa League and we are in the final of the Copa del Rey. Of the matches that we had not won, two that we tied were classifications in Europe and the Cup, exactly the same as two victories. And after finishing Fridays at two in the morning with significant emotional and physical wear and tear, we lost to Sevilla and Atlético de Madrid I don’t see where there is a crisis nor do I see that the team was in a bad way. I was very happy today to see the team discarding any hint of criticism due to fatigue. The team started losing and had to risk a lot, unfortunately we couldn’t make those games. Today day we maintained security, the team ran the entire game, played 15 minutes with one less and did not show any signs of fatigue”.
How he analyzes the expulsion of Fekir
“I haven’t talked to him yet, I’ll do it. It’s not the first time that after hitting him 20 kicks he reacts. He’s a player who holds the ball, who doesn’t throw himself on the floor and out of 20 fouls they make, 10 don’t point them out . He reacted. It’s understandable, without justifying it. Those who hit continue and those who play leave.”
Reinforced after the victory
“Of course, playing 14 games in 40 days is a significant physical and psychological burden. I reiterate what I said the other day. Being one less today we won 1-0. And against Eintracht we were losing and the routes are much longer, the risk of going with more people to the attack is greater and they can catch you on the counterattack, as happened to us. They are all different situations. I said it after losing to Eintracht, Atlético and Sevilla. When you go against such important teams for down on the scoreboard you risk much more and the spaces are bigger. Today we did a very important defensive job. And being ahead on the scoreboard made it much easier for us to handle the ball well”.
A victory without so much offensive flow
“I liked the team, regardless of the results we had achieved, which were not so bad, the team had lost some freshness in the offensive volume. Today we were calmer with the ball, we created enough chances in the first half. Then maybe we took refuge a little more on the scoreboard and they took the initiative. And although the defensive part is criticized, today we did an impeccable job in that aspect against a difficult rival”.
Panda’s Great Job and Paul’s Party
“More than the individual part, I like the collective part, but Borja played a great game, he controlled the ball a lot, prepared plays, scored a goal… He played a very complete game and I’m very happy for him. And Paul is a player whom I personally have a lot of confidence in, who plays football very well. He has had a difficult season due to injuries, we had to leave him out of the Europa League because he wasn’t 100%. But every time he plays he has important quality and I think he has a great future at the club.
Fekir’s reaction
“Personally, I think you have to analyze it from the point of view of the player on the field, where they hit him a lot. He tried to show perhaps a fantasy without much importance, but that was not the cause of the expulsion. It was all the blows that they hit him, a possible penalty on the opposite side, which they didn’t point out to him and he got heated up. But I think Nabil still has to have the experience in that expulsion”.
The fight for the Champions
“I do know that we are competing against Atlético de Madrid, Barcelona, Villarreal and Sevilla, teams with double or triple the budget. We are going to continue with the same mentality trying to qualify for the Europa League, trying to win the Copa del Rey in April and fight in these last 10 league games to get as high as possible. We’ll see later how far it allows us to go and the points we get. But there is a team confident in what they do and safe”.
