‘I am a Man City fan’ – Manuel Pellegrini admits he ‘wasn’t sad’ to see Man Utd loss to Liverpool

Manuel Pellegrini has admitted he was not sad to see Manchester United lose so heavily to Liverpool on Sunday and said he is a ‘Manchester City fan’.

The Chilean will be back at Old Trafford on Thursday night when his Real Betis side take on the Red Devils in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie. Pellegrini faced United six times when he was in charge of City between 2013 and 2016, and memorably won 4-1 at the ground during his first visit as Blues boss.

Seven years after being replaced by Pep Guardiola, Pellegrini evidently still feels that rivalry with United and, speaking in his pre-match press conference, he reminded reporters of his previous ties in Manchester.

The 69-year-old was asked about United’s 7-0 loss at Anfield on Sunday, and said he doesn’t think the game will have an impact on the midweek European clash. “Really, it was unbelievable. I was watching the first 45 minutes because afterwards we had to play Real Madrid so I couldn’t see when Liverpool scored the other six goals,” he explained.

“I understand immediately what would happen to Manchester United. The rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester, so many goals, it will not be easy for them. But I am a Manchester City fan also, so I was not very sad about what happened.

“There were three unbelievable years I had at City – we had a great rivalry and we were able to get the better of them and win the league. There is a rivalry that exists and in that three years I was on the other side of the city,” Pellegrini added.

On the Liverpool game, the Betis manager said: “It is just one defeat and in football it can happen. We cannot think for one moment that we will play against a team that lost 7-0. I don’t think they will play with the last game on their mind.

“I think they will play with the motivation that they have to reach the next round. But also we are not going to start the game thinking that they had a defeat of 7-0. We play against a difficult team.”