Real Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini believes his side can still turn things around when they welcome Erik Ten Hag's Manchester United to Spain on Thursday night for the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie.
Manuel Pellegrini saw his men beaten 4-1 at Old Trafford last week Thursday after Marcus Rashford, Wout Weghorst, Antony and Bruno Fernandes got on the scoresheet for the 20-time Premier League Champions.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring six minutes into the encounter before Real Betis striker Ayoze Pérez scored a stunner to level things up at Old Trafford for the visitors. The first half ended in a 1-1 draw.
However, Erik Ten Hag's men came out firing in the second half, and Antony scored a worldie after curling the ball from the edge of the box with his left foot, sending the ball beyond the reach of Bravo. Minutes later, Bruno Fernandes headed home a Luke Shaw corner kick after the number 8 moved into position in the box without being detected by the Real Betis defenders.
Facundo Pellistri came on alongside Scott McTominay, and both almost combined to make it 4-1, but it was a Wout Weghorst goal as the Dutch striker was in position for a rebound.
Although Manuel Pellegrini claimed that the Red Devils were the better team in the first leg of the encounter, the Italian is nevertheless convinced that his side can stage a comeback against Manchester United on Thursday night.
Asked what gives him hope of turning things around and whether there is a mental fragility in United, the Betis boss said: “Well, I really believe that in football, you never know the score a game can finish."
“We play there away. "It is always different to play here at home with our fans behind our team, knowing from the beginning that we are playing against a big team and they have all the major options to qualify for the next round.
“But we must try from the first minute, first to win the game, and then try to score the goals that we need to qualify." "And if not, to play a good game and win here at home."
“So, believing in my team and believing in our fans, we try, all together, to turn the score," Pellegrini explained.
However, the former Manchester City boss still laid emphasis on how his men lost the first leg of the tie at Old Trafford, claiming they were beaten within five minutes.
"We were playing a very equal game until minute 53 (when Antony scored),” Pellegrini said. "
“That goal by Manchester United was a brilliant goal from a good player, and after that, minutes later, a corner finished the game."
“It was not a physical problem, more a mental problem that sees our work for 53 minutes going away in just four or five minutes."
“I think every game is different." Tomorrow we’re not going to have in our minds the score we had there. "We try to have our focus on our score here at home," he asserted.
Manchester United can only let the Thursday host score a minimum of two goals and still progress to the Europa League quarterfinals. Three goals in the normal 90 minutes of play mean a tie will be decided in extra time and probably on penalties. Should Real Betis be able to score four without conceding, they will upstage the Red Devils and progress to the quarterfinals.
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