Manuel Pellegrini facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Manuel Pellegrini

Pellegrini as manager of Real Betis in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth	(1953-09-16) 16 September 1953 (age 71)
Place of birth	Santiago, Chile
Height	1.84 m
Playing position	Centre-back
Club information
Current club	Real Betis (head coach)
Youth career
	Audax Italiano
	Universidad de Chile
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1973–1986	Universidad de Chile	315	(7)
Total		315	(7)
National team
1986	Chile	1	(0)
Teams managed
1988–1989	Universidad de Chile
1990–1991	Palestino
1992–1993	O'Higgins
1994–1996	Universidad Católica
1998	Palestino
1999–2000	LDU Quito
2001–2002	San Lorenzo
2002–2003	River Plate
2004–2009	Villarreal
2009–2010	Real Madrid
2010–2013	Málaga
2013–2016	Manchester City
2016–2018	Hebei China Fortune
2018–2019	West Ham United
2020–	Real Betis
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Real Betis. As a coach, he has led teams in Spain, England, Argentina, Chile, China, and Ecuador. Pellegrini has won national league titles in four different countries.

Pellegrini moved to Europe in 2004 to become the manager of the Spanish team Villarreal. Under his leadership, Villarreal finished third in La Liga in 2005. They also reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2006. In 2008, they achieved a historic second-place finish in La Liga, breaking into the top two.

Pellegrini's great work at Villarreal caught the eye of Real Madrid. He became their manager in 2009. His team earned 96 points, a club record at the time, but finished second to Barcelona. He left after one season. He later said he found it hard to build a balanced team at Real Madrid because of their policy of buying only famous players.

Pellegrini became the manager of Málaga in November 2010. He led Málaga to a fourth-place finish in his first full season, which meant they qualified for the UEFA Champions League. They reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2013. This made him the only coach to take two teams to the Champions League quarter-finals in their first time in the competition. Pellegrini left Málaga in May 2013. On 14 June 2013, he became the manager of Manchester City. In his first season, he won the Football League Cup and the Premier League. He was the first manager from outside Europe to win the English Premier League title. Manchester City scored 151 goals that season, a new English football record. Pellegrini also led Manchester City to their first-ever Champions League semi-final in 2016. He then managed Hebei China Fortune from 2016 to 2018. In May 2018, he was appointed manager of West Ham United. He was sacked in December 2019 after a difficult period. On 9 July 2020, the Spanish club Real Betis announced he would be their manager for the 2020–21 season.

Playing Career Highlights

Born in Santiago, Chile, Manuel Pellegrini studied civil engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He started playing football in the youth teams of Audax Italiano. He then joined Club Universidad de Chile, where he played professionally as a defender. He spent his whole playing career there, playing 451 games and scoring seven goals. One of his goals was against Colo-Colo, their biggest rival.

In the 1970s, Club Universidad de Chile had a tough time, not winning the national championship since 1969. But in 1979, they won the championship and qualified for the 1980 Copa Libertadores. They beat their rival Colo-Colo in both tournaments.

Pellegrini played once for the Chile national team in 1986. He retired as a player in February 1987. He decided to stop playing after a young 17-year-old player, Iván Zamorano, jumped higher than him to score a goal. Pellegrini later joked that if he had known how famous Zamorano would become, he might have kept playing!

After retiring, Pellegrini wanted to use his engineering skills to help rebuild areas in central Chile after a big earthquake in 1985.

Managerial Journey

Early Coaching Years

Pellegrini started his coaching career at Club Universidad de Chile in 1988. He left mid-season to study football coaching in Europe. The team struggled that year and was moved down to Division 2 for the first time. However, they won the Division 2 championship in 1989 and returned to Division 1.

In 1990, Pellegrini became an assistant coach for the Chile national team and managed the under-20 team. He then managed Palestino until 1992. In 1992, he coached O'Higgins for a year. In 1993, he moved to Universidad Católica, a very popular club in Chile. There, he won the Copa Interamericana in 1994 and the 1995 Copa Chile.

In 1998, Pellegrini briefly returned to Palestino before moving to the Ecuadorian club LDU Quito. He led them to a national title in 1999. His success there made other South American clubs notice him.

Success in Argentina

Pellegrini joined the Argentine club San Lorenzo in 2001. He helped them win their first international title, the Copa Mercosur. He also led San Lorenzo to win the Argentine Clausura championship.

From 2002 to 2003, Pellegrini managed River Plate, another big Argentine club. He won the Clausura championship in 2003. He left River Plate at the end of 2003.

Leading Villarreal to New Heights

Pellegrini became the manager of Villarreal on 1 July 2004. In his first season, Villarreal finished third in the league and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. The next season, Villarreal made it to the semi-finals of the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, but lost to Arsenal. Over the next two seasons, Villarreal finished fifth and then a historic second place in the league. Pellegrini also led them to the Champions League knockout stages again, where they lost to Arsenal in the quarter-finals.

Villarreal offered Pellegrini a contract extension until 2011. However, on 1 June 2009, Villarreal announced that Pellegrini would be leaving the club.

Managing Real Madrid

Pellegrini as manager of Real Madrid in 2009

On 1 June 2009, Pellegrini was named the manager of Real Madrid. He signed a two-year contract. He said he was very proud to lead "perhaps the most important club in the world." During his time, Real Madrid bought famous players like Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Xabi Alonso.

In October 2009, Real Madrid was knocked out of the Copa del Rey by a smaller team, Alcorcón. In March 2010, they were also knocked out of the Champions League by Lyon.

Pellegrini's Real Madrid team earned 96 points in La Liga, which was a club record at the time. However, they finished second to their rivals Barcelona, who had 99 points. On 26 May 2010, Real Madrid decided to let Pellegrini go. Pellegrini later said he felt frustrated because he couldn't build the team he wanted at Real Madrid. He felt the club focused too much on buying famous players rather than players needed for specific positions.

Málaga's European Adventure

Pellegrini as manager of Málaga in 2012

After leaving Real Madrid, Pellegrini signed a three-year contract with the Spanish club Málaga on 22 July 2010. He officially became their new coach on 5 November. His first game as Málaga coach was a 3–2 win against Hércules in the Copa del Rey.

In his first full season, he led Málaga to a club-record 58 points, finishing fourth in the league. This meant Málaga qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever. Málaga did very well in the Champions League, reaching the knockout stage without losing a game in their group. They then beat Porto to reach the quarter-finals. They were knocked out by Borussia Dortmund after conceding two goals in stoppage time.

On 22 May 2013, Pellegrini announced he would leave Málaga at the end of the season. Málaga finished sixth that season. In October 2018, a roundabout in Malaga was named in his honor.

Winning the Premier League with Manchester City

Pellegrini as manager of Manchester City in 2013

On 14 June 2013, Manchester City announced Pellegrini as their new manager on a three-year contract. He was the first Chilean manager in the Premier League.

Pellegrini's team had a strong start, with big wins against Newcastle United, Manchester United, and Norwich City. After a loss in November 2013, City went on a 20-match unbeaten run. This included a 6–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur and a 6–3 win over Arsenal.

Manchester City continued to score many goals. They scored 100 goals for the season in just 34 games, the fastest in the Premier League era. By the end of January 2014, they had scored 115 goals in all competitions, the most by any club in Europe at that time.

On 2 March 2014, Pellegrini's Manchester City beat Sunderland 3–1 in the 2014 Football League Cup Final at Wembley. This was his first major trophy in European football. On 11 May, Manchester City became Premier League champions after beating West Ham United 2–0. This made Pellegrini the first non-European coach to win the English league title.

Pellegrini as manager of Manchester City in 2016

In the 2014–15 season, City was knocked out of the League Cup and the FA Cup. They also lost in the Champions League round of 16 to Barcelona.

On 7 August 2015, Manchester City announced that Pellegrini had signed a one-year contract extension. On 1 February 2016, Manchester City confirmed Pellegrini would leave in June, and Pep Guardiola would take over. Pellegrini left Manchester City with one of the best win percentages in Premier League history.

Coaching in China and West Ham

On 27 August 2016, Pellegrini became the manager of the Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune. He left the club on 19 May 2018.

On 22 May 2018, West Ham United appointed Pellegrini as their new manager. His first win with the club was in an EFL Cup match against AFC Wimbledon. West Ham finished 10th in the Premier League in his first season. West Ham spent a lot of money on new players under Pellegrini. However, after a difficult start to the 2019–20 season, he was sacked on 28 December 2019.

Return to Spain with Real Betis

On 9 July 2020, it was announced that Pellegrini would become the manager of Real Betis in La Liga.

Managerial Style

Pellegrini is known for his attacking style of play, calm personality, and excellent way of managing his players. When he was at Manchester City, their team scored goals from all over the field. People described their style as "death by beautiful geometry" because of their clever passing and movement.

Honours

Player

Universidad de Chile

• Copa Chile: 1979

Manager

Pellegrini with the Premier League trophy on Manchester City's victory parade, May 2014

Universidad Católica

• Copa Chile: 1995
• Copa Interamericana: 1993

LDU Quito

• Serie A: 1999

San Lorenzo

• Primera División: 2000–01
• Copa Mercosur: 2001

River Plate

• Primera División: 2002–03

Villarreal

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2004

Manchester City

• Premier League: 2013–14
• Football League Cup: 2013–14, 2015–16

Real Betis

• Copa del Rey: 2021–22

Individual Awards

• Miguel Muñoz Trophy: 2007–08, 2021–22
• Premier League Manager of the Month: December 2013, January 2014, December 2014, August 2015
• Málaga Provincial Council: Gold Shield

Managerial Statistics

See also

In Spanish: Manuel Pellegrini para niños

• List of English football championship winning managers
• List of one-club men