Manuel Pellegrini played down the extent of Real Betis' exit from the Europa League by pointing out how much more money Manchester United have spent.
Marcus Rashford's wonder strike secured a 1-0 win for his side on Thursday night as United secured a comprehensive 5-1 win on aggregate across two legs.
Betis wasted a number of chances across both matches but gave the second leg a real good go despite their three-goal deficit. Juanmi spurred a glorious opportunity early on in the match, while veteran Joaquin saw a speculative effort cannon off the post.
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In the end, it proved too much for the La Liga side to mount any type of comeback, and after the game, former Man City boss Pellegrini played down the exit by pointing at the contrasting finances of the clubs.
"We leave with bitterness," he admitted in his post-match press conference. "We entered with a goal difference, but we wanted to score an early goal.
"We had chances. They had one and they nailed it. We played equally with everyone, the rival doesn't matter. Happy for the mentality and for not changing the operation with respect to the rivals.
"The difference in the tie is that they have ten times our budget. We were unlucky in the draw. We lost against a superior team.
"When we found out that we were up against Manchester United, we knew we were up against one of the most difficult teams that is prepared for the Champions League.
"We wanted to give the fans satisfaction. We gave it our all, and I am very happy for the support we had."
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