Pellegrini gets vote of confidence
Real Madrid director general Jorge Valdano gave under-pressure coach Manuel Pellegrini a vote of confidence in the wake of last night’s Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon.
Madrid started the second leg well but could not build on Cristiano Ronaldo’s early strike and Miralem Pjanic’s 75th-minute equaliser for Lyon earned the French side a 2-1 aggregate win and a place in the quarter-finals.
Madrid have now fallen at the last 16 stage of the Champions League for six successive years and, with this season’s final being played at their Bernabeu home, this exit will be particularly painful.
As was the case when Madrid were dumped out of the Copa del Rey in humiliating circumstances earlier this season when they lost 4-1 on aggregate to third tier Alcorcon, the spotlight fell on coach Pellegrini.
Both Pellegrini and Valdano were quizzed about the coach’s future after the game, and while Pellegrini insisted he was not going to resign, Valdano also played down the likelihood of there being a managerial change in the near future.
“We will respect him because we believe in his work, although we know that the coach of Madrid is always accompanied by controversy,” Valdano said of Pellegrini.
“He has a contract for next season and the plan is that he will continue being our coach.”
