A frustrated Manuel Pellegrini paid a reluctant tribute to the ‘very good’ Jack Butland after the Rangers goalkeeper shone during Thursday’s UEFA Europa League group-stage victory over Ibrox.
The former Manchester City and Real Madrid boss, at his pre-match press conference, took time to mention Rangers’ outstanding home record in Europe’s second tier club competition. Since the start of 2018/19, the Glasgow giants have only been on the losing side three times at Ibrox, and that was maintained as Real Betis became the latest big-name club scalped in front of a crashing blue wave.
Was it Ben Davies? Was it Abdallah Sima? Does anyone really care? Scrappy though it may have been, the nature of Rangers’ second-half winner will matter little to Mick Beale; the under-fire head coach inspiring a result – and a performance – which could potentially prove to be a sliding door’s moment in his tenure.
Beale was understandably delighted at full-time. You could not say the same of Pellegrini; his Betis side suffering the same fate that befell Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Galatasaray, Feyenoord and Porto.
Rangers beat Real Betis in Europa League
“(There is) a feeling of dissatisfaction with the result,” Pellegrini tells Estadio Deportivo. “It is completely unfair for what happened on the field. I am very satisfied with the personality of the team, which has gone out to find the game from the beginning.
“I think we had more scoring chances than (Rangers).”
Given that Betis mustered fewer shots on target – and fewer attempts in total – the legitimacy of Pellegrini’s claims do not really stand up to scrutiny. And, even when the visitors did manage to find a way past the imperious Conor Goldson and Ben Davies, they found themselves coming up against a man who could surely claim to be the best, most immediately-influential Rangers signing in many a window.
Jack Butland shines again
“In the second-half, their goalkeeper made two or three very good saves,” Pellegrini adds; Butland keeping out Abde Ezzalzouli twice before denying Rodri with a wonderful reflex stop towards the end.
“And, with a corner, they unbalanced the game.”
