The green and white club’s recent exit from the Conference League has sparked a debate about the limitations of the Chilean coach’s squad, but their back yard rival refutes this hypothesis
Betis was eliminated from an international tournament again in the same season and several Sevilla FC fans expressed their opinion on the matter. Manuel Pellegrini’s statements at a post-match press conference in Zagreb sparked a series of controversies and debates surrounding squad planning and the players available to the Chilean coach.
Basically, The Engineer assured that a large part of the blame lies with the premature babies Elimination of Betis In the conference it is due to the limitations he had on his squad. Specifically, he pointed out that they only had one natural central defender in the second leg against Dinamo Zagreb (Chadi Riyadh). Let’s remember that Germán Pezzella was unable to play due to an accumulation of yellow cards and Papastathopoulos was not registered.

A pivot from Sevilla FC gives a lecture to the Betis coach
Since the South American coach only had Chadi Riad as a central defender, he had to use pivot Marc Roca, who had already done so in other games. However, the former FC Bayern Munich player looked very uncomfortable in the game against the Croatian club. “Playing with a central defender in Europe is very difficult. Registrations, injuries, sales… we didn’t have a squad to fight for what we fought for,” Pellegrini said.
The Southern coach’s comments sparked numerous reactions on social networks, but the biggest response came from Sevilla FC fans. As an example, they cited Nemanja Gudelj, a key and trademark midfielder who played in several games, including in the Europa LeagueHe acted as a central defender. The result was 2 international titles.
Marc Roca (Betis) could follow the path of Gudelj (Sevilla).
Just as the Verdiblanco team experienced, the Sevilla team also had to suffer at some point. It’s about the fact that central defenders are not available and are free from sanctions, non-registrations and, above all, injuries. For this reason, the coach of the Nervión team, then Julen Lopetegui, had to use a midfielder (Gudelj) as a defender
This is the path that awaits Marc Roca if the restrictions on the Betis squad extend beyond the summer market.. Marc Bartra’s injury, Luiz Felipe’s departure, Pezzella’s overload and Papastathopoulos’ low level are putting the Catalans on the defensive. However, this will be determined by Pellegrini for the rest of the season.