Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 8y

Manuel Pellegrini: Too much interference from above at Real Madrid

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said it was difficult to coach at Real Madrid because of interference from people with no football knowledge.

Pellegrini, who returns to the Santiago Bernabeu for City's Champions League semifinal second leg against Madrid on Wednesday, was in charge for just one season at the Spanish club before being sacked by president Florentino Perez.

The Chilean amassed a then-club record haul of 96 points in 2009-10 but Los Blancos still finished second in La Liga to Barcelona, who were then managed by Pep Guardiola -- his replacement at the Etihad Stadium this summer.

Pellegrini said he was proud to have managed Madrid and said he learnt from his experience in the Spanish capital.

"To coach Madrid is a source of great pride," he told El Mundo. "But what happens is that when one coaches Madrid, one must understand that they are not just about sport, they are also very political. And to the extent that folks, who, in my opinion, have no football knowledge, are allowed to interfere in decisions."

Pellegrini would not reveal if it was Perez who "interfered" with football decisions but said his time at Madrid helped him to ignore other opinions about his teams.

"If one allows people who do not have knowledge to interfere, if one allows oneself to be weakened by critics who have agendas that are either political or sport-related or personal, then one is not prepared [to coach them]," he added. "That is why I had the good luck to pass one of the most difficult tests and I was not at all affected.

"I always knew that what the players liked the most about me was that Monday came around and nothing changed -- whether we had won or lost. I always asked of them the same work, the same concepts, no matter what people on the outside said.

"I never used a player to suit the whim of someone or another person or changed because I received more or less criticism. Madrid have a model and they are not going to change."

City were held 0-0 in Tuesday's first leg against Madrid and Pellegrini admitted it was not the most entertaining of games.

City failed to manage a shot on target until the 91st minute but the City boss blamed Madrid's defensive approach for helping to produce such a cagey game.

"I was shocked that Madrid were so far back. In the first half especially, the team that was trying to recover the ball further up and was playing with more intention was ours," he said. "Perhaps at some point they looked superior and perhaps they were guessing, and they were right, that they should play the first half by trying not to lose.

"It is very important to avoid having the visiting team score, but there are many ways to do that. If you look at our formation, we play forward with [Jesus] Navas, [David] Silva, [Kevin] De Bruyne and [Sergio] Aguero, four purely offensive players, in addition to Fernandinho in midfield and he is not a marking midfielder.

"We didn't put defensive players in there nor did we wait for them at our goal to try to avoid them scoring on us. On the contrary, we went out to set the pace with our creative players who, unfortunately, weren't very creative that day. We tried to score goals but we were more worried about Real Madrid not scoring them.

"As a fan, if you were to ask me, yes, I would be disappointed because it was a bad match. I will always prefer more offence in a game."

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