The 70-year-old proved willing to lean into claims he lacks the swashbuckling streak of his peers after Barcelona battered them.
Pragmatic Manuel Pellegrini claims his main focus is winning home games days before he sends out his Real Betis side to face Rangers at Ibrox.
The 70-year-old proved willing to lean into suggestions he lacks the swashbuckling streak of his peers after his cold-blooded take on his side's 5-0 trouncing at the hands of Barcelona. The former Real Madrid and Manchester City boss refused to hit the panic button ahead of locking horns with Rangers in the Europa League. And he insists results away from home are purely a bonus for him.
The hope rather than expect approach might be a prudent one for a Betis side who have conceded nine goals in their last two games and sold star defender Luiz Felipe to Al-Ittihad before the transfer window closed. But Pellegrini pointed to potential green shoots of recovery if his strikers rediscover their shooting boots. He added: "A very painful defeat, a tough result. Losing 5-0 is of course not within what was expected, but that's football.
"And it was a second half where we already had an advantage and we had to take risks, they found the spaces and surpassed us. Against these teams, when you have three one-on-one with the goalkeeper and they don't convert, it is very difficult to get a good result." Rangers – the top seeds in Group C - won 2-0 against St Johnstone on Sunday and now Michael Beale will aim to further remove himself from pressure by securing a signature result against the Spaniards on home turf on Thursday night.
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