Real Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini has warned Manchester United that their Europa League last-16 tie is not over yet, despite their comfortable lead heading into the second leg.
United hold a 4-1 lead ahead of facing the La Liga side on Thursday night and are heavy favourites to progress to the quarter-final stage of the competition.
Marcus Rashford's opening goal was cancelled out by Ayoze Perez a week ago, before second-half efforts from Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst completed the scoreline.
Read next: Casemiro ban gives final chance for struggling star to earn spot
There are no away goals in Europe this season, so Betis will need to win by three goals to even force extra-time in the match, but Pellegrini hasn't given up hope yet.
Speaking ahead of the match, the former Man City boss insisted his side weren't completely out of the tie yet and would give it their best to progress.
“Well, I believe really that in football you never know the score a game can finish," he said when asked whether there is a mental fragility in United.
“We play there away. Always different to playing here at home with our fans behind our team, knowing from the beginning that we are playing against a big team and they have all the major options to qualify for the next round.
“But we must try from the first minute, first to win the game, after that to try to score the goals that we need to qualify. And if not, to play a good game and win here at home.
“So, believing in my team, believing in our fans and we try, all together, to turn the score.”
Betis had given a good account of themselves for a large portion of the game, but fell apart in the second-half as United turned on the style.
The La Liga side learned a lot from their collapse, but Pellegrini still saw plenty of positives in their performance at Old Trafford.
He added: “We were playing a very equal game until minute 53. That goal of Manchester United, a brilliant goal from a good player (Antony), and after that minutes later a corner finished the game.
“It was not a physical problem, more a mental problem that sees our work for 53 minutes going away in just four or five minutes.
“I think every game is different. Tomorrow we’re not going to have in our mind the score we had there. We try to have (focus on) our score here at home.”
Read more:
