Former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini had little sympathy for Manchester United when discussing their recent 7-0 hammering suffered against Liverpool.
No stranger to inflicting damaging defeats on the Red Devils of his own doing, Pellegrini guided City to a 4-1 home win before achieving a 3-0 away triumph over United during his first season at the club in 2013/14. During a later spell in charge of West Ham, he secured victories in two of his three meetings with United.
The 69-year-old is now preparing to go head-to-head with the recent Carabao Cup champions once again on Thursday evening in the Europa League last-16 first leg as his Real Betis side make the trip to Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag's team will be desperate to issue an immediate response on the back of their seven-goal humiliation at Anfield, which Pellegrini couldn't help but poke fun at when asked for his opinion on the result.
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“It was unbelievable,” he told reporters at a press conference. “I watched the first 45 minutes because we were playing [on Sunday night] so I missed the other six goals, but I understood immediately what would happen to Manchester United. The rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester, it will not be easy for them. But I am a Manchester City fan also so I was not very sad about what happened," joked the Chilean.
Marcus Rashford's comments yesterday afternoon offered an insight into the sour taste Sunday's stuffing is likely to have left, attempting to shut down suggestions he and his team-mates threw the towel in as the Liverpool goals poured in.
"We didn't give up, that is nonsense,” said Rashford. We were unorganised and communication was bad. It comes down to the fact I believe everyone was trying to get back into the game that much, we came away from the principles in and out of possession. I felt the forwards were trying to press, just the forward unit, and were disconnected from the midfield.
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