Pellegrini pledges his Betis team will challenge for Europe playing exciting football

New Real Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini has insisted the club are too big not to be challenging for European places.

Betis confirmed the appointment of Pellegrini last week, with the Chilean penning a three-year deal at the club to replace Rubi – who was sacked last month following a poor run of results.

Pellegrini – who has been out of work since leaving West Ham in December – will take over first-team affairs from the end of the current season, with Alexis Trujillo currently acting as interim boss.

The team are languishing in the bottom half of La Liga and fell well short of their expectations of challenging for a European place this season.

Indeed, Betis have qualified for Europe just once in the past seven seasons – when Quique Setien guided them a top six finish in his debut season with the club in 2017/18.

“I would like Betis to play well and for that you first have to win. Then there are different ways to do it,” Pellegrini told reporters at his introductory press conference on Monday, as cited by Marca.

“My teams have always had similar characteristics, being a team that scores goals, that people come to see and expect they will not play just to win 1-0. Because of the characteristics of the squad we are going to try to make a winning team that pleases the fans.”

Pellegrini also confirmed he had “other offers” but he chose Betis because: “I believe in the project, there are leaders here who have the intention of growing the club.

“It has been a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to come to Betis. There were contacts before, but it was not possible. To return to Spain after 10 years is a pleasure for me, this is my home.

“Can we compete with Sevilla? Right now, we are a couple of steps down – Sevilla are fighting to qualify for the Champions League, but football changes quickly.

“Although the results this season have not been adequate, there has been institutional progress and that now must go hand in hand with the sports results.

“We need to show a winning mentality because this is a team that has to be fighting for European places, it needs it as an institution and it will be my main objective, to take that leap on the pitch.”

Tags Manuel Pellegrini
La Liga - Club News