Manuel Pellegrini’s difficult season at Betis

Maybe deep down, Manuel Pellegrini did not predict that Betis’ 2023-2024 season would start with so many complexities. Since the arrival of the Chilean, the institution has established itself as an important player in La Liga and qualifies for Europe every year. However, regarding the campaign currently in development, the results have not been consistent and have not been heavily marketed, despite the Engineer’s demands.

In this sense, it must be borne in mind that the Betic club has undergone an important change in its organizational chart. Antonio Cordón, close to Pellegrini, ceased to be sports director and was replaced by Ramón Planes (former Barcelona), who signed until 2026. Despite the recent successes achieved by the coach, there is no powerful financial backing to go out and sign spending millions. The data reflects the opposite.

Betis was one of the teams in the Spanish league that spent the least on the transfer market. He spent 9.5 million euros on two footballers, according to Transfermarkt: Abde Ezzalzouli and Sergi Altimira. Others arrived free like Héctor Bellerín, Marc Bartra, Marc Roca and Chadi Riad. At the same time, he is experiencing significant departures. At the close of the transfer book, defender Luiz Felipe left for Saudi Al Ittihad, without having time to replace him. Additionally, Sergio Canales left for Mexico and Joaquín, the green and white icon, retired.

The lack of variants had an impact, directly or indirectly, on the team’s poor start. To date, Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis have played eight matches (seven in La Liga and one in the Europa League) with a record of two wins, three draws and three defeats, with seven goals scored and 13 against. Out of 24 points in play, he only scored nine. A meager return of 37.5%.

The cast of Heliopolis He remains on a four-game winless streak, with two falls and two ties. This series of losses began with the 5-0 defeat against Barcelona on September 16. Then came the debut in the Europa League, losing 1-0 against Rangers in Scotland (September 21). Then came two draws: 1-1 against Cádiz (September 24) and 1-1 against Granada (September 28).

Pellegrini is aware of the difficult moment he is going through. At the press conference ahead of Sunday’s clash with Valencia, the coach seemed confident they could turn things around. “We have had times of worse results every season. We are close to Europe and the low zone, because it is very narrow. More than justifying, you have to work, “We are all aware that the team, without being in crisis, must improve to reach the top places,” declared.

Concerning the numerous absences due to injuries, the coach blames the saturated calendar. “The number of games we play is abnormal. I think we’re all talking about the same thing. Since I’ve been here, we’ve always been touring. Together we must win the three competitions we participate in,” he said.

On Friday evening, the composition of the Chilean team for the qualifying matches to be played in October, against Peru and Venezuela respectively, was known. There is something that has been ratified: the marginalization of Claudio Bravo . The goalkeeper, holder of Betis (taking advantage of Rui Silva’s injury), does not appear on Eduardo Berizzo’s list.

Unlike the previous double meeting, the native of Viluco now has more continuity and achieves good performances. However, Toto maintained his decision to do without the 40-year-old goalkeeper.