Manuel Luis Pellegrini believes Real Betis will play well against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Real Betis coach Manuel Luis Pellegrini believes his side can beat Barcelona to reach the last eight of the Copa del Rey if they play with determination.
‘Of course they are a very strong opponent. Barcelona at home is not the ideal matchup, but we are still determine to win,’ said Pellegrini, who was also optimistic that the Blaugrana have not fare well at home, losing their last three games against Las Palmas, Leganes and Atletico Madrid.
‘We must not forget that they have already lost three home games, one against Las Palmas and one against Leganes.’
‘Last Sunday they played very well against Real Madrid and that’s football. We will try to reduce the great efficiency they have and play the game we play here, where we have more chances to beat them.’
However, Real Betis have been dealt a blow ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Barcelona as Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso has pick up another injury, but that will not stop Betis from being determine to face the Blaugrana after drawing points in December.
‘We will try to show why we can beat them here in a game that ends 2-2. Barcelona’s recent form has been excellent, no doubt, but they เล่นบาคาร่า UFABET เว็บตรง ค่าคอมสูง have lost three home games.’
‘Football is unpredictable and we don’t know what the game is going to be like. That’s why it’s a great sport, because there are so many things that can’t be explain.’
‘What I expect is Betis playing with the personality to try to get through and if we don’t, it’s because Barcelona played better, not because we didn’t play well. That’s the important thing.’
When asked if the Barca players might be hungover after a week in Saudi Arabia and celebrating their Supercopa de Espana triumph,
‘It’s not for competition, but as I always say, the result will be judge by individual performance and collaboration.’
‘I hope we play the game we did here against Barcelona because we had a lot of chances to score that we should have won. It’s a different game. Now we go out there and we hope to do well.’
Asked about Real Betis’ inconsistent form. However, Pellegrini argued that it was the same thing that happened to almost every team this season.
‘It’s not just Betis, it happens to every team. Barcelona lost three home games when they looked like they were going to be unbeaten. Then scored five goals against Madrid.’
‘Every team has bad games, but more than bad games. I’m frustrat with the points we lost at home from playing a very good game. We deserved to lose, especially in the Conference League, but in the league we deserved more points.’