Manuel Pellegrini, getty images November 7, 2025, 7:40 p.m

The head coach of the Spanish Betis, Manuel Pellegrini, spoke after the victory over Lyon in the match of the 4th round of the Europa League. His words are cited by the official UEFA website.

“I would sum it up as a very solid, complete team performance. We won a lot of goals in their half of the pitch. In the first 20-25 minutes, we defended a lot and lost the ball, and we lacked a little development in attack.

Then two goals put us ahead against a team that defends well. We gained a very important advantage, after which we defended with great confidence.

Three points are very useful for the passage to the next round. I told the players that we have two games at home (next with Utrecht on November 27 – note) and we can’t risk qualification, we want to get six points. Now we have the first three points against a strong opponent. So, in conclusion, we played a full and solid game.

We are very balanced because in defense we play reliably and in attack we have quality players like Antoni and Abde who score goals,” said Pellegrini.