‘Barcelona is the favourite’

The Real Betis coach, the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, admitted that FC Barcelona is the “favourite” in the second semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup, which takes place this Thursday (1pm CT in the US) in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), but He warned that the Verdiblanco team does not travel “as an accompaniment.”

“They are two teams that favor the creative over the destructive and hopefully a great match will come out and we win. We come from an important victory, from recovering ‘Champions’ positions in a very close league that can be defined by a single point. Barcelona is the favorite because of the power it has, but we are not accompanying them, ”he said at a press conference with his player Luiz Felipe.

Manuel Pellegrini assured that Betis will go out for victory “from the confidence” they have as a group, and underlined the importance of winning the first official trophy of 2023. “In this profession one has to get used to winning, be it tournaments long or short. The Super Cup is not a long tournament, but it does give you the opportunity to win against teams as big as Barcelona, ​​Madrid and Valencia itself, ”he indicated.

The Argentine coach admitted that Álex Moreno’s departure to Aston Villa “is a major loss.” “Álex is in a great moment and he gave us a lot defensively and offensively. I have always said that, to the extent that the sale can solve the financial problems of the club, it must be done. We have to find a way to replace him, but it’s not going to be easy,” he said.

In this sense, he suggested that Juan Miranda could fill Moreno’s vacancy in the eleven against Barça and is confident that “no one else” will be sold. “We do not know what offers may arrive. On the part of the club, there is no intention of buying anyone because the squad has responded, we are in a good position in the League and we play the Cup and Super Cup ”, he broke down.

Pellegrino downplayed the fact that no Betic coach has won more than one title, of the four -one league, that of 1934-35 and three cups, those of 1976-77, 2004-05 and 2021-22- that the Verdiblanca entity holds in his palmares “From a personal point of view it is not something that motivates me. It motivates me more that Betis fans can enjoy a competitive team and beat a team like Barcelona. If that entails something personal … but I am not very taken to that aspect, ”he stressed.

Regarding the country, Pellegrino revealed that he had never been to Saudi Arabia before, a nation that he described as “interesting” and “different”- “Hopefully it will be complemented by sporting success. We have a game mechanics that we do not change depending on the rival, nor are we going to go out for a tie but rather to look for Barcelona in their own field, ”advanced the Argentine coach.