Manuel Pellegrini described his real betis players as “destroyed” after a collapse of the second half saw them lose the Europa League final at Chelsea 4-1 in Wroclaw.
Betis was fantastic in the first half of Wednesday's showpiece and was rightly led during the break after the excellent Isco-Tede Abde Ezzalzouli for a ninth minute opener.
Indeed, the Ezzalzouli strike was the earliest goal in a major European final since Romelu Lukaku scored in the fifth minute for Inter against Seville in the 2019-2020 Europa League program.
However, Chelsea showed a clear improvement after the break, when Cole Palmer Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson set up to complete the turnaround before Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo lets the deal sealed.
“They were destroyed. We could not maintain what we were doing in the first half,” Pellegrini said when she thinks about the defeat.
“We caused them problems because of Abde, but he sprained his ankle and we had to replace him. Yet we should be proud of the way we played, and the rest is football.
“We played a great first half, we scored a goal, we had a few more clear opportunities, but in the second half we were hit by injuries, for example, and we could no longer hurt Chelsea, and they started to hurt us.
“We played a really good first half, and in the second half they were better and got the goals that won the final. A season in which we qualified for Europe and reaching a final is a step forward, and I am sure the fans agree.”
Among the world cups, European championships, Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, the last 27 finals with Spanish clubs had returned a remarkable 27 winners.
Betis does not go in to make it 28 in what their first major European final was, the 12th Spanish side to do this.
They have now won only once against English parties in nine attempts, coincidentally against Chelsea in the Champions League of 2005-06, but they will play at a higher level of continental competition in the Europa League subsequent period.
“For Betis, qualification for Europe and reaching a final is already quite an achievement. We can't even start thinking about the Europa League final,” Pellegrini added.
“We really had a good season – unfortunately we could not win this title, but we will work on the team for next season tomorrow.”
Former Real Madrid game maker Isco was sublime in the first 45 minutes, but just like his teammates it was a little more modest after the break.
He said Betis just didn't know how to take advantage of the deserved lead they gave during the break.
“I think we have sought a little refuge in the scoreboard. We were too deep. They are a team with a lot of quality, a lot of strength,” said Isco, a five-time Champions League winner at Madrid.
“It is a very tough defeat after what we did in the first half. Football is ruthless.
“We had a good first half where they hardly had any opportunities. We had it close by and we didn't know how to take advantage of the score, something that punished us all season. In a European final, his mistakes are very punished.
“In the second half they ran over us. It is painful.”