Manuel Pellegrini

Manuel Pellegrini

Pellegrini in June 2009
Personal information
Full name	Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti
Date of birth	(1953-09-16) 16 September 1953
Place of birth	Santiago, Chile
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Manchester City (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1973–1986	Universidad Chile	451	(1)
National team
1973–1986	Chile	28	(1)
Teams managed
1987–1990	Universidad Chile
1990	Palestino
1991–1992	Palestino
1992–1993	O'Higgins
1993–1995	Universidad Católica
1998	Palestino
1998–2001	Liga De Quito
2001–2002	San Lorenzo
2002–2003	River Plate
2004–2009	Villarreal
2009–2010	Real Madrid
2010–2013	Málaga
2013–	Manchester City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Pellegrini and the second or maternal family name is Ripamonti.

Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean football manager and former footballer, who is the current manager of English Premier League side Manchester City. As a coach, he has managed teams mostly in Spain, Argentina and Chile. A qualified civil engineer and a competent footballer, after retiring as a player, he moved into coaching in his native Chile and subsequently Argentina.

Pellegrini moved to Europe in 2004 to take the manager's post at Villarreal, a small club near Valencia with little notable history. Under Pellegrini, Villarreal achieved a third place finish in 2004–05 La Liga, a Champions League's semi-final in 2005–06 and broke the big two in 2008 by securing a second place finish in La Liga in 2007–08.

Pellegrini's consistent record at Villarreal attracted the attention of Real Madrid and he was appointed manager in 2009. He amassed a total of 96 points, a club record until it was surpassed by Mourinho in the 2011-12 season, but lost the title to Barcelona by 3 points. He was dismissed after one season and later lamented the Galácticos policy employed at Real which prevented him from building a balanced team.

Pellegrini took up the manager's role at Málaga in November 2010. Pellegrini led Málaga to a fourth place finish in his first full season and Champions League football. He made it to the quarter-finals of the 2012–13 Champions League, becoming the only coach to take two different teams to the Champions League quarter-finals in their debut seasons in the competition. On 22 May 2013, Pellegrini confirmed he would leave Málaga at the end of the 2012–13 La Liga season. On 14 June 2013 he was appointed manager of Manchester City on a three year contract.

Playing career

Born in Santiago to Italian parents, Pellegrini attended the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, where he graduated as a civil engineer in 1979. As a footballer, he played his entire career for Club Universidad de Chile, making a total of 451 appearances, scoring one goal.

Managerial career

Early years

As a coach, Pellegrini has managed teams mostly in Spain, Argentina, and Chile. Pellegrini started coaching Universidad de Chile during the 1988 season, in which the team was relegated to the Second Division. In 1990, Arturo Salah was appointed as the manager of the Chilean national football team, and he hired Pellegrini as his technical assistant, and manager of the under-20 team. In 1990, Pellegrini was appointed manager of Palestino; where he was manager until 1992. Then, in 1992, he was appointed manager of O'Higgins, until 1993. In 1993, he became coach of Universidad Católica, one of the most popular football clubs in Chile, where he had a team with players such as Alberto Acosta and Nestor Gorosito, but he could only finish as runner-up during 1994 and 1995 seasons. In 1998, Pellegrini had a brief spell back at Palestino, before he was bought out by LDU Quito. Pellegrini managed Ecuadorian club Quito to a national title in 1999, starting a tradition of coaches that followed him to the Ecuadorian team. He had a good presentation in Copa Libertadores with the team that put him in the eye of the General Managers of other South American teams.

San Lorenzo

Pellegrini lead San Lorenzo de Almagro to obtain their first international title. The years with Universidad Catolica were fundamental in his career as Nestor Gorosito, an icon of San Lorenzo de Almagro, would later on recommend Pellegrini to the team and his recommendation would reap rewards when the Chilean manager lead SL to the 2001 Clausura title and the Copa Mercosur, South America's UEFA Cup equivalent.

River Plate

Pellegrini secured the Clausura championships at Los Milionarios in 2003, in which he utilised the talents of Andrés D'Alessandro, one of many Argentine playmakers to have been likened to Diego Maradona. His sale to Vfl Wolfsburg, however, proved a tough hurdle for Pellegrini to overcome and his side struggled to defend their status as Argentine champions in the 2003 Torneo Apertura. He quit his post at the end of the campaign.

Villarreal

Pellegrini took over the managerial duties of Villarreal CF on 1 July 2004. In his first season in charge of the club, Villarreal qualified for the Champions League after finishing third in the league and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. The following season, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, losing to Arsenal. Villarreal eventually finished seventh in La Liga that year. The following two seasons featured Villarreal finishing in both fifth and second place in the league, the latter being historic for the club. Pellegrini led "The Yellow Submarines" to the Champions league knockout stages, where they drew Arsenal once again in the quarter-finals, losing out 4–1 on aggregate. According to percentage of points gained, Pellegrini is the second most successful South American club manager in La Liga within the last 25 years, coming after Vanderlei Luxemburgo. At the end of 2007, Villarreal offered him an extended contract until 2011. On 31 May 2009, after the last La Liga match for Villarreal, Pellegrini said "nobody from Real Madrid has spoken with me. I have a contract with Villarreal, we finished the league today, and tomorrow we go on holiday," after being inquired by the press. On 1 June 2009, a Villarreal executive announced that Pellegrini would no longer continue at the club. The Valencian club executive specified that if Real Madrid wanted to sign the Chilean coach, they would have to pay Pellegrini's €4 million termination clause.

Real Madrid

On 2 June 2009, Pellegrini was appointed as manager of Real Madrid, signing a two–year contract. On being presented at the presidential balcony of the Santiago Bernabéu, he said, "Hard to say in a few words the excitement and pride that one feels for having been chosen to direct perhaps the most important club in the world." He joined Real Madrid as the first manager in Florentino Pérez's second stint as Real Madrid president. After a few days, Pellegrini bought Kaká from Milan, saying, "If we want to win the Champions League and be the best team in the world, we need the best players in the world." They later bought Cristiano Ronaldo for £80 million from Manchester United, Karim Benzema from Olympique Lyonnais for £30 million, and Xabi Alonso for £30 million from Liverpool. It was the most money Real Madrid had spent in a transfer market, with the total cost of the four players around £200 million.

On 20 July 2009, Pellegrini managed his first match for the club against Irish side Shamrock Rovers in a friendly match. Real Madrid won the game by a low 1–0 score, with a solitary goal by Karim Benzema in the 87th minute. President Florentino Pérez criticized the team's style of play in this match and the physical exhaustion of the players. In July, Pellegrini competed in his first cup for the club as manager, the Peace Cup 2009. The club finished as semi-finalist in the tournament, being eliminated by Juventus in a 2–1 loss. On 29 August, Real Madrid won 3–2 at Deportivo La Coruña in Pellegrini's first La Liga game as manager.

On 27 October 2009, the club was eliminated from the Copa del Rey during the Round of 16 by the modest Segunda División B club Alcorcón with a 4–1 aggregate loss. The Spanish daily Marca named this match "Alcorconazo." Shortly after, this newspaper made many teasing references to Pellegrini and also he endangered his continuity at the club. On 10 March 2010 he suffered a second hit, being eliminated from the Champions League by Lyon in the Round of 16 with a 2–1 aggregate loss. Florentino Pérez issued an ultimatum to Pellegrini after this defeat, warning him that he would be fired if he did not win the league. Pellegrini's Real Madrid side achieved a record 96 points in La Liga, being the highest points total that Real Madrid has achieved in a La Liga season, but still came in runner-up, finishing behind their arch rival Barcelona, who had 99 points. There were many rumors of the coach's departure during the summer of 2010, but the club's directors did not confirm anything at the time. On 26 May 2010, Real Madrid's directors announced that Pellegrini was being sacked by the club, to be replaced by José Mourinho, but that they would have kept him if the opportunity to hire Mourinho had not arisen.

Pellegrini later reflected on his frustration at not being able to build a team at Real Madrid – due to the Galácticos policy at Real Madrid: "I didn't have a voice or a vote at Madrid. They sign the best players, but not the best players needed in a certain position. It’s no good having an orchestra with the 10 best guitarists if I don’t have a pianist. Real Madrid have the best guitarists, but if I ask them to play the piano they won’t be able to do it so well. He [Pérez] sold players that I considered important. We didn't win the Champions League because we didn't have a squad properly structured to be able to win it."

Málaga

After being released by Real Madrid, on 22 July 2010, he received an offer from the Mexican national team, their coach Javier Aguirre having resigned following their 2010 World Cup loss in the Round of 16 in South Africa. Pellegrini, however, eventually signed for La Liga side Málaga in a three-year deal, their coach Jesualdo Ferreira having been fired. On 5 November, he was officially presented as the new coach of Málaga during a press conference together with the club's owner Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani. On 14 November 2010, he made his Málaga debut as coach against Levante in a 1–0 home victory at La Rosaleda.

After his first full season with the team, he guided them 4th in the league, with a record breaking 58 points. With his guidance, Málaga entered the Champions League qualifiers for the first time in the club's history. On 10 August 2012, Pellegrini publicly stated his desire to stay at the club despite the ongoing financial problems the club has encountered and the loss of key players such as Santi Cazorla and José Salomón Rondón.

Málaga progressed to latter stages of the Champions League, where the club were drawn against Milan, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Anderlecht. The club progressed to the knockout stage unbeaten, winning three and drawing three in the group stage.Málaga then beat Porto 2–1 on aggregate in the round of 16. Málaga were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund after conceding two stoppage time goals which cost them a semi-final place – the latter of which was offside.

On 22 May 2013, at Málaga's end-of-season award ceremony, Pellegrini announced he would leave the club at the end of the season.

Manchester City

On 30 May 2013, Pellegrini stated he had a verbal agreement to become the new manager of Premier League club Manchester City. On 14 June 2013, Manchester City announced the appointment of Pellegrini as their new first team manager on a three year contract. Pellegrini was quoted saying he was 'delighted to accept this hugely exciting opportunity.'

Honours

Manager

Universidad Católica

• Copa Interamericana (1): 1994
• Copa Chile (1): 1995

LDU Quito

• Serie A (1): 1998–99

San Lorenzo

• Primera División (1): 2000–01
• Copa Mercosur (1): 2001

River Plate

• Primera División (1): 2002–03

Villarreal

• UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 2004

Individual

• Miguel Muñoz Trophy (1): 2008

Personal

• Málaga Provincial Council: Gold Shield

Managerial statistics

As of 14 June 2013

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	Win %
Universidad Chile		1987	1990					—
Palestino		1990	1990					—
Palestino		1991	1992					—
O'Higgins		1992	1993					—
Universidad Católica		1993	1995					—
Palestino		1998	1998					—
Liga De Quito		1998	30 May 2001					—
San Lorenzo		1 June 2001	26 May 2002	700150000000000000050	700121000000000000021	700117000000000000017	700112000000000000012	700142000000000000042.00
River Plate		30 June 2002	30 June 2003	700153000000000000053	700135000000000000035	70007000000000000007	700111000000000000011	700166040000000000066.04
Villarreal		1 July 2004	1 June 2009	7002259000000000000259	7002123000000000000123	700172000000000000072	700164000000000000064	700147490000000000047.49
Real Madrid		1 June 2009	26 May 2010	700148000000000000048	700136000000000000036	70005000000000000005	70007000000000000007	700175000000000000075.00
Málaga		5 November 2010	1 June 2013	7002130000000000000130	700153000000000000053	700130000000000000030	700147000000000000047	700140770000000000040.77
Manchester City		14 June 2013		50000000000000000000	50000000000000000000	50000000000000000000	50000000000000000000	!—
Total				7002540000000000000540	7002268000000000000268	7002131000000000000131	7002141000000000000141	700149630000000000049.63

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• Transfermarkt profile
• Manuel Pellegrini management career stats at Soccerbase

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Juande Ramos & Marcelino	Miguel Muñoz Trophy 2007–08	Succeeded by Pep Guardiola