Manuel Pellegrini makes feelings clear on Manchester United thrashing by Liverpool

Real Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini declared himself a Manchester City fan and said he was not sad that Manchester United lost 7-0 to Liverpool at the weekend.

Pellegrini returns to Manchester for the first time since leaving his role at West Ham, this week when his La Liga side take on United in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16. Before joining the Hammers, the 69-year-old enjoyed success with City, winning the League Cup twice and the Premier League between 2013 and 2016.

He was eventually replaced by current Blues boss Pep Guardiola but that has not lessened his love for City. When asked about United's emphatic loss to Liverpool, Pellegrini told the media: "It really was unbelievable.

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"I was watching the first 45 minutes because after that we had to play against Real Madrid so I couldn't see when Liverpool scored the other six goals. But of course I understood immediately what would happen at Manchester United.

"In their rivalry with Liverpool, for them to concede that amount of goals, it would not be easy for them. But I am a Manchester City fan also so I was not very sad about what happened."

Pellegrini went on to state that the loss did not alter his plans for the game at Old Trafford. He added: "I don’t think so, it depends how they react to that defeat.

"It is just one game that in football can happen but we can’t think that we’re going to beat them 7-0. We’re going to play against Manchester United.

"Their players and the manager have already talked about bouncing back and fixing the situation. I don’t think they’re going to go out and play thinking about their last game, so we’re not going to go out thinking about that either.

"We’re going to