"I don't understand what happened!": Pellegrini erupts in anger and opens fire on the referee of the Barcelona match
A disallowed goal and a controversial sending-off
Manuel Pellegrini tore into referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea after Real Betis were beaten 5-2 by Barcelona in the ninth round of La Liga, accusing the officials of deciding the game. The Chilean pointed to two calls above all: Giovani Lo Celso's disallowed goal and the dismissal of Facundo Bernal.
Speaking to "DAZN", Pellegrini made no attempt to hide his fury at what he had seen at La Cartuja. He could not understand the justification for any of it, least of all the decision to rule out Lo Celso's strike for a handball by Cucho Hernandez, nor what he believed were fouls in the build-up to one of Barcelona's goals.
The Chilean coach said: "They were incomprehensible decisions, I couldn't understand them. A goal was disallowed for a handball that Cucho did not commit deliberately, after the ball struck his hand, and on the other hand, in Barcelona's third goal, one of the players put his foot on his head and ended up being sent off, and there was also a push and provocation from Lamine Yamal. These are decisions that had a very big impact."
No explanation made sense to him, he said, not when both teams had turned up ready to play proper football. "I understand that the referee may have been a little annoyed, but both teams are committed to playing football, and I see no reason to apply these decisions in this way."
Pellegrini defends Cucho
Lo Celso's ruled-out goal drew the sharpest criticism. VAR called the referee over to the monitor to review the handball in the build-up, and the official scrubbed off the strike that would have levelled things up for the Andalusians.
Pellegrini explained his view on the incident, saying: "Cucho was trying to reach the ball, and he was pushed by a Barcelona player, so the ball hit his hand. It was not a deliberate handball. He was going to stop the ball with his chest, but it struck his hand. Unfortunately, incidents like these damage the game."
The sending-off ruined the match
Bernal's second-half red card drew equal anger. The Betis man clashed with Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona winger shoved him, Bernal grabbed his head, and the referee reached for the card.
That moment reshaped the whole contest in Pellegrini's eyes. Betis had been matching Barcelona before going down to ten, he argued, with enough technical players on the pitch to hurt them and manufacture chances.
Pellegrini said: "We had very important players, and we had a clear idea about keeping possession of the ball. Fornals, Lo Celso and others are players with great technical talent. The score was 2-1, and Bellerin was in a one-on-one situation, but the sending-off ruined the match. That is the difference."
Eleven against eleven, the Chilean insisted, his side held their own. The scoreline tells you nothing about the game that was being played before the red card.
He concluded: "Of course, when we were playing 11 against 11, we were competing on equal terms. The match was balanced, and it was not easy to play against Barcelona. We had very clear chances, and until the score became 3-2, everything was even against a team considered the best in Spain."
