Statements by Manuel Pellegrini
“I don’t think the match Betis played on Wednesday will influence tomorrow’s game at all. With a three day break between matches, I think that’s plenty of time to recover. The performance of both teams is what will influence the match, and I’m hopeful of a great game tomorrow.”
“La Rosaleda’s pitch is in great condition with good drainage that will absorb all the rainfall, so I don’t think there’ll be any problems in that respect.”
“What we’ve been talking about with the team, is that we must remain focused on one competition at a time. If we want to perform well against Anderlecht, then we need to perform well against Betis first. We haven’t even thought about Anderlecht yet, we’re all concentrating on this next League match. We need to maintain our Champions position, and will have this in mind when we’re up against Betis tomorrow. Our performance in these matches will be reflected at the end of the season, with one or two points being the difference between qualifying or not. We really need the three points from this home match against Betis, I’m not even going to mention Wednesday’s match yet, as we’re not focusing on it at all right now.”
“I think the team is definitely ready and fully prepared to win any match, regardless of the injuries we’re bound to sustain at points throughout the year. When a player like Toulalan gets injured, the team is able to work around it and create the least amount of disruption to performance as possible. I think we’ve been able to replace Jeremy, without taking away his significance and importance to the team. Those who have played instead of him have also performed extremely well.”
“The team has been prepared since the start of the season, since we qualified for the Champions League and got through the play-offs, we knew we’d have a Champions match nearly every Wednesday, and playing a total of three matches in a week. When the first part of the Champions is over, then the Copa del Rey gets underway. We’ve been ready for this since the beginning of the year.”
“Betis are a good team, who are near the top of the table, and have the same philosophy as they had last year. They’ve been playing better this season, and are a team that really favours good football. I think Pepe Mel has done an excellent job, and they’ll make it a tough match for us tomorrow.”
“It’s impossible not to talk about the outstanding performance of a player like Isco, and how easy it is for players to lose their focus sometimes. This is what the coaching team is there for, for keep them focused on the job in hand, and why they’re doing it, and how easy it is for things to change when a player’s mentality alters.”