17 years after his previous visit with Villarreal, legendary Chilean coach and Real Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini is scheduled to visit Rangers once again.
At the ripe old age of 70, the South American manager is still competing at the highest level against Manuel Pellegrini, who is in his fourth season with the La Liga team.
Ibrox supporters will recall the manager’s previous visit to Glasgow ahead of Real Betis’ highly anticipated appearance in the Europa League tomorrow evening.
In that illustrious 2006 Champions League first-round matchup, Manuel Pellegrini coached Villarreal and faced Alex McLeish of Rangers.
Before ultimately defeating the Gers in Spain, a star-studded Villarreal team that included Marcos Senna, Juan Roman Riquelme, and Diego Forlan forced a 2-2 draw at Ibrox.
Villarreal advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals thanks to a contentious 1-1 draw at El Madrigal on a night that will go down in the annals of both teams.
After 17 years, Manuel Pellegrini rejoins Rangers
The Ibrox team will be aiming for equal excitement in Glasgow, but a better outcome, as Manuel Pellegrini gets ready to return to Rangers with Real Betis.
Real Betis and Rangers emerged from the second group of teams, with Real Betis being the pot one club. If all is equal, these two teams should advance at the cost of Sparta Prague and AEL Limassol.
The rookie Michael Beale and the significantly more experienced Manuel Pellegrini, who has some problems going into the game, will be put to the test in this situation.
There have been many changes since the Chilean last visited Rangers, which has been nearly two decades.
It’s been a long road back to Scotland after managing Real Madrid, Malaga, Manchester City (where he won the Premier League), Hebei China Fortune, and West Ham throughout that time.
