Pellegrini takes on Barcelona again: ‘More difficult, impossible’

Real Betis of Manuel Pellegrini and Claudio Bravo will face Barcelona this Wednesday after the first round of the Spanish tournament . A clash that comes just weeks after the confrontation they played in the Spanish Super Cup and in which the Catalans qualified for the final after beating the Verdiblancos on penalties.

For this reason, the engineering team will try to repeat their best performance to have the possibility of leaving the three points at home. “The Super Cup game was a 2-2 draw in 120 minutes where the best figure of the game was Ter Stegen. So if we can repeat this game and score the goals we had, I would be very happy. . Against Barcelona, ​​possession of the ball will always be shared, because they also have very good players. The important thing is to see how much damage it does to you in each of the areas“, he began by indicating during a press conference.

“In football, the matches, even if they are the same teams, are never the same. I hope we play a very good game and can score points at home “, he added later.

Moreover, regarding the rival, he said he sees the Catalans ‘as the leading team in the league, the team that won the Super Cup. Perhaps the team that has strengthened the most this year and it shows in the number of points she got in the championship. You will be able to play sometimes better, sometimes worse. A more difficult rival, impossible”.

Finally, he said the players should avoid taking this duel as a rematch of the Super Cup. “These are different competitions. The other is finished. What it takes is the mental motivation to add up those three points, do the best lap you’ve ever done and reposition yourself among the four places in the table. ”.

Manuel Pellegrini will have the opportunity this Wednesday to complete the best first round against Barcelona since joining Betis.

The confrontation that will take place at the Benito Villamarín, which has been postponed due to the Hispanic Super Cup, could set a new record, provided the Verdiblanco team manages to overcome the current leaders of the competition.

So far, the Sevilla side have collected 31 points in the league and if they beat the Catalans, they will reach 34 points. . With this, the previous first two rounds the Engineer has achieved since joining the club would be improved.

Last season, the Béticos finished the first round with 33 points, surpassing the 26 obtained by Pellegrini during the first season at the helm of Betis .

So if they were to win, they would equal the fastest first round as there have been 20 teams in the Premier League since the 2012-23 campaign with Pepe Mel on the bench, a season in which they ended up advancing to the Europa League.

“Statistics are important. We have 31 points, which allows us to be in European positions, which is a good first round. If we added three more we would be in Champions League position which would be a better round . We always want to improve on what has been done and that is what we will be looking for. We will try the same to play our football and add three more points,” Pellegrini commented on Tuesday.

Both Betis and Barcelona have backed recent activity. The two teams met in the Supercopa on January 12, where the squad of Claudio Bravo and Pellegrini rose to the challenge and ended up falling on penalties (4-2) after leveling 2-2 within 120 minutes. which took place. disputed.

A confrontation that gives hope to the club, because Betis haven’t been able to beat the Catalans at home for twelve years since the 3-1 victory they secured in the Copa del Rey rematch in 2011. . A win that didn’t help much, as in the first leg Barcelona beat the Verdiblancos 5-0.

In the Spanish league, Betis’ last victory over their next rival dates back to the 3-2 victory obtained during the 2007-08 season. . Since then, they have faced each other eleven times with a record of three draws and eight wins in favor of the Catalans.