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There was a time before Diego Simeone where La Liga’s Clasico duopoly had reached eye-watering levels.
Between Rafael Benitez’ departure from title winning Valencia, and Simeone’s return to his beloved Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona asserted a level of league dominance that we may never see again from two sides, occupying the league’s top two slots 17 times out of a possible 18 between 2004 and 2013.
In that period, we witnessed the Champions League winning fun of Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho followed up by the emergence of the extraordinary Messi and Ronaldo era, but in 2007-08, we saw something altogether completely different.
Three years after arriving from South America, Manuel Pellegrini had imposed his learnings from the continent onto his Villarreal side in superb fashion, with an old school Brazilian 4-2-2-2 unleashing the talents of Giuseppe Rossi, Santi Cazorla, Diego Godin and Marcos Senna, mounting a wholly unexpected title challenge from a tiny side on the outskirts of Valencia.
It was clear he was destined for bigger things in Europe, and things don’t get much bigger than Galacticos Part 2, with the return of Florentino Perez at Real Madrid signalling one of the most blockbuster summers football has seen. He opted for Pellegrini to kick start his revolution, and despite only lasting a year as their preferred choice, Jose Mourinho, became available, the Chilean had a squad of players he had no say over playing perfectly to his tune, breaking the league’s 100 goal scoring mark, succumbing only to Guardiola’s Barca on points.
By this point, Pellegrini's nickname 'El Ingeniero' (the engineer) had become fully warranted, being handed squads with little to no say over their complexion, the Chilean would have them ticking along to his tune, and system, in months. The only thing missing was trophies.
Pellegrini’s workings did eventually reap their rewards, becoming the first ever non-European coach to win the English title, breaking goal scoring records along the way at Manchester City, before once again robbed of his job by a generational coach, Pep Guardiola.
A brief stint with Hebei China Fortune preceded an uneventful spell at poisoned chalice West Ham, but now, after fully topping up his retirement fund in China and England, Pellegrini is back to have a crack at taking another La Liga team into the big time.
Real Betis, one of Spain’s most supported sides behind only the top two and Athletic Bilbao are in somewhat of an identity crisis. Their return to the top flight has seen a rapid rise to the top half of the table, coupled with some scintillating total football under now Barcelona coach Quique Setien, that also saw an influx of European competition level players such as Nabil Fekir, Sergio Canales and William Carvalho.
Being followed by Mourinho and Guardiola is about as quick a way to erase history as possible, and on top of being a rather quiet and unassuming interviewee, encapsulated with a forgettable spell at West Ham, Pellegrini’s somewhat low reputation in England may be a little unjust.
However in Spain, they’re welcoming back one of the league’s miracle workers. And while expectations at Betis may be far closer to Madrid than his spells at Villarreal and Malaga, you may want to keep an eye out for the team in green who could well be making a charge up the table and a dent in Europe in the very near future.
📣 OFICIAL | Manuel Pellegrini, entrenador del #RealBetis a partir de la próxima temporada 🤝🆕💚
— Real Betis Balompié 🌴💚 (@RealBetis) July 9, 2020
¡Bienvenido! 👋🇨🇱
➡ https://t.co/Yn8vyu9gO1 pic.twitter.com/CcVAJ2QgEX
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NameManuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti Born/Age1953-09-16(70 -yrs-old) Nationality Chile Italy Job RoleManager | |
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