Manuel Pellegrini is one of the most experienced and respected coaches working at the highest level of football today.
The former Manchester City and Real Madrid boss has spent the past five years turning Real Betis into European contenders and trophy challengers, winning the Copa del Rey in 2022.
On Wednesday, he will have the opportunity to claim more silverware with the Spanish side. They face Chelsea in the final of the UEFA Conference League in Poland.
Here is everything you need to know about Pellegrini’s coaching career, his successes, and why Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca sees him as a father figure.
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Manuel Pellegrini career, clubs managed
Pellegrini spent his entire playing career at Universidad de Chile between 1973 and 1986. He earned one senior cap for Chile in 1986, a year before he retired. He later explained he was motivated to end his playing career after being out-jumped for a header by 17-year-old Ivan Zamorano, the former Inter Milan and Real Madrid striker now considered one of the country’s greatest ever players.
Pellegrini’s coaching career began at Universidad de Chile, and he spent his formative years in the dugout in his homeland before taking the job with Ecuadorean side LDU Quito in 1999. Winning the league title and overseeing a good run in the Copa Libertadores saw him appointed by Argentinian side San Lorenzo and then River Plate. League titles at each club caught the attention of Europe, and he was named Villarreal head coach in 2004.
Although his only trophy was the now-defunct Intertoto Cup, Pellegrini is fondly remembered for leading a Villarreal side that mixed it with the very best in Europe. They reached the UEFA Champions League semifinals in 2005/06, where they lost to Arsenal, and the finished second in La Liga in 2008. A year later, he was handed the Real Madrid job.
His time at the Santiago Bernabeu was mixed. Pellegrini was tasked with creating a functioning team including new signings Kaka, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso, and the new world’s most expensive player, Cristiano Ronaldo. Although their league form was impressive — they amassed what was then a club-record 96 points but still lost out in the title race to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona — surprise defeats to Alcorcon in the Copa del Rey and Lyon in the Champions League proved costly.
Pellegrini then spent three years in charge of Malaga, who had acquired new-found wealth through Qatari ownership. They finished fourth in the league in his first full season in charge and reached the Champions League quarterfinals in 2012/13, losing to Borussia Dortmund in controversial fashion, but Pellegrini left at the end of the season as Malaga became embroiled in financial difficulties.
Manchester City appointed Pellegrini as Roberto Mancini’s successor and he ended his first season in England by winning the Premier League title and EFL Cup, becoming the first non-European to win the English league title. Chelsea won the league in the following season, though, as City ended up empty-handed and once more suffered a Champions League exit at the first knockout stage. Pellegrini won the EFL Cup again in 2015/16, but talk of Guardiola taking over had already begun to build and the Catalan replaced Pellegrini at the end of the season.
A two-year spell in China with Hebei China Fortune followed before Pellegrini returned to England with West Ham, but he only lasted one full season in London and was sacked in December 2019. He then took charge at Betis in 2020, and has been there ever since, winning the Copa del Rey in 2021/22.
Manuel Pellegrini clubs managed
| Club | Country | Years managed |
| Universidad de Chile | Chile | 1988-89 |
| Palestino | Chile | 1990-91; 1998 |
| O’Higgins | Chile | 1992-93 |
| Universidad Catolica | Chile | 1994-96 |
| LDU Quito | Ecuador | 1999-2000 |
| San Lorenzo | Argentina | 2001-02 |
| River Plate | Argentina | 2002-03 |
| Villarreal | Spain | 2004-09 |
| Real Madrid | Spain | 2009-10 |
| Malaga | Spain | 2010-13 |
| Manchester City | England | 2013-16 |
| Hebei China Fortune | China | 2016-18 |
| West Ham | England | 2018-19 |
| Real Betis | Spain | 2020 |
Manuel Pellegrini trophies won
Pellegrini has won league titles in Ecuador, Argentina and England, as well as cup success at clubs including Universidad de Catolica and Betis.
Manuel Pellegrini trophies won
| Club | Trophies |
| Universidad Catolica | Copa Interamericana (1993), Copa Chile (1995) |
| LDU Quito | Ecuadorian Serie A (1999) |
| San Lorenzo | Argentine Primera Division (2000/01), Copa Mercosur (2001) |
| River Plate | Argentine Primera Division (2002/03) |
| Villarreal | UEFA Intertoto Cup (2004) |
| Manchester City | Premier League (2013/14), EFL Cup (2014, 2016) |
| Real Betis | Copa del Rey (2022) |
Why Manuel Pellegrini is a “father” to Enzo Maresca
Pellegrini was Malaga coach when Maresca played for the Spanish side as a midfielder. He urged the future Chelsea boss to pursue coaching after retirement and went on to become his mentor.
Maresca worked as an assistant under Pellegrini at West Ham before taking a job with Man City’s youth sector, where he learned from Guardiola. These formative years saw him given the job at Leicester City, where he secured Premier League promotion, and then Chelsea.
“I define him like a professional dad because when I need to make big decisions, we are in contact,” Maresca said of Pellegrini, with whom he still speaks regularly. “I learned a lot from him, especially how to manage players, how to manage a squad.”
