Manuel Pellegrini · Biography

Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti was born on 16 September 1953 in Santiago, Chile. He made his professional debut as a player in 1973 with Universidad de Chile, the only club of his playing career. As a manager he has worked in Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, Spain, England and China. He won the Premier League with Manchester City in 2014 and has coached Real Betis since 2020.

A defender at Universidad de Chile

Pellegrini played as a centre-back for Universidad de Chile from 1973 until he retired in 1986. He spent thirteen seasons at the same club, in a period without league titles for la U. While playing, he studied civil engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and completed the degree. It earned him the nickname “the Engineer”, which followed him into management.

First steps in Chile and Ecuador

He began coaching in 1988 at Universidad de Chile. Spells followed at Palestino, O'Higgins and Universidad Católica, with whom he won the 1995 Copa Chile. In 1999 he moved to Ecuador to take charge of Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito and won the Ecuadorian league that same year. It was his first league title as a coach.

Titles in Argentina

In 2001 he joined San Lorenzo de Almagro. That year he won the Clausura tournament and the Copa Mercosur, the last continental competition held under that name. In 2002 he moved to River Plate and in 2003 won the Clausura with the Buenos Aires club. Those two spells made his name outside Chile and opened the door to Europe.

Villarreal and Real Madrid

In 2004 he took over at Villarreal. In his first summer he won the Intertoto Cup, and in 2005-06 he led the club to the Champions League semi-finals, where they lost to Arsenal. In 2007-08 Villarreal finished second in LaLiga, the club's best league finish up to that point. In June 2009 Real Madrid hired him. In his only season he collected 96 league points, finishing second behind Barcelona, and went out of the Champions League in the last 16 against Olympique Lyonnais. He left the club in May 2010.

Málaga in the Champions League

In November 2010 he took over a Málaga side near the bottom of the table and kept them up. In 2011-12 he guided them to fourth place in LaLiga, which gave the club its first Champions League campaign. In 2012-13 Málaga reached the quarter-finals and were knocked out by Borussia Dortmund, who scored twice in stoppage time of the second leg. He left in the summer of 2013.

English champion with Manchester City

In June 2013 he signed for Manchester City. In his first season he won the 2013-14 Premier League and the League Cup, becoming the first manager from outside Europe to win the English title. He won the League Cup again in 2016 and that year took City to the Champions League semi-finals, where Real Madrid eliminated them. He left in the summer of 2016 and was replaced by Pep Guardiola.

China, West Ham and Real Betis

From 2016 to 2018 he coached Hebei China Fortune in the Chinese Super League. In May 2018 he returned to England to manage West Ham United, who dismissed him in December 2019. In July 2020 he joined Real Betis. With the Seville club he won the 2022 Copa del Rey, beating Valencia on penalties in the final at La Cartuja stadium. On 28 May 2025 he led Betis in the Conference League final in Wrocław, the club's first European final, which they lost 4-1 to Chelsea.