Manuel Pellegrini puts Real Betis' Champions League qualification down to resilience

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/betis/vJbTeCGP/"]Betis[/a] claimed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/betis-vJbTeCGP/elche-4jl02tPF/?mid=OrBUvnHd"]a 2-1 home ‌win[/a] over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/elche/4jl02tPF/"]Elche[/a], with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fornals-pablo/CfghB0gf/"]Pablo Fornals[/a] scoring a 68th-minute winner, to book their spot ‌in Europe's top competition for ⁠the first ‌time since the 2005-06 season.[/p][p]They have been regulars ​in European competition in recent years, qualifying every season since 2021 ​and reaching the Conference League final against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a] last season.[/p][p][b]"It’s not easy to ⁠be in ​European competitions for six years, much less to have qualified for the Champions League two matches before the end of ‌the season,”[/b] Pellegrini, 72, told reporters.[/p][embed guid="b5daf5a6-d452-4bba-a563-93a985158010" url="https://x.com/RealBetis_en/status/2054339587946774662" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"The team’s greatest merit was always getting back up after losing. I think all those stumbles were more than compensated for today with the great celebration we had in our stadium, with our fans, to whom we owed this joy," [/b]he continued.[/p][p][b]"We started the first match ​of the season against Elche, and ‌at the end of the team talk, we wrote in green letters, 'Today we begin our journey to the Champions League.'"[/b][/p][p]Betis next face newly-crowned LaLiga ⁠champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a] ⁠on Sunday.[/p]