Manuel is a man of the people

Sep 28 2008 By Gavin Berry In Villarreal

MANUEL PELLEGRINI is one of the most respected bosses in Spain.

But in keeping with the traditions of his club he remains modest.

Villarreal are a small community team - with more than 20,000 season ticket holders from the town's 50,000 population - who continue to make a massive impact at the top level.

And gaffer Pellegrini is hero worshipped by adoring supporters for continuing their rapid rise since taking charge in 2004.

Club president Fernando Roig is also a huge admirer of Chilean Pellegrini who, apart from his managerial expertise, showed in midweek why he is so loved - he takes it upon himself to preserve the links between club and fans.

There are small bars dotted around the narrow streets that run off El Madrigal stadium and inside many of them locals can be found playing cards, drinking and talking football.

On Tuesday evening, shortly before the team's training session and press conference ahead of the following night's league game against Racing Santander, Pellegrini and a handful of his coaching staff joined them.

Complete with full training gear and football boots, they make the short stroll across the road, fight their way through the thick cloud of cigarette smoke and chat with customers over a coffee.

It's hard to imagine any other manager in the Champions League nipping to the boozer to mix with fans and enjoy a quick drink just before taking a training session.

But there's nothing unusual about it in Villarreal and the owner of La Tribuna has come to expect Pellegrini's visits. The laid-back manager takes everything in his stride - even MailSport's interruption of his coffee for an interview request.

He duly agrees and after arranging to meet in El Madrigal is more bothered about asking if his English has improved since our last get-together just before Rangers' last-16 tie against Villarreal in 2006.

It's still perfect. But the qualified civil engineer admits those two pulsating games against the Light Blues have prepared him for a difficult and demanding night against Celtic on Tuesday.

After opening their Group E campaign with a scoreless draw away to Manchester United, Pellegrini wants a win to continue Villarreal's impressive Euro home record - and Celtic's dismal away form in the Champions League.

He said: "I remember the last game against Rangers in Glasgow. I also know Walter Smith and Archie Knox well because they bought Sebastian Rozental from me when I was in Chile.

"Rangers and Celtic are not the same, they are two different teams but playing in Glasgow was difficult and we know we face a difficult game so will try to prepare properly.

"I know Walter but won't ask him for tips on how to beat Celtic.

"By the time the match comes we will have all the information we need on the team and players.

"I don't know Gordon Strachan as well although I spoke briefly with him in Geneva at a coaching convention last month.

"We know about Celtic's away record and hope this continues. But we won't dwell on how they have done in the past.

"All games are different and we can be sure that if Celtic haven't won before they will want to change that when they come to Villarreal.

"We will try to play well and be better than them. It's important for us to get a good result here at El Madrigal to build on the first match in Manchester.

"It's so difficult to say what our most difficult game will be but obviously you would expect an away match at Old Trafford to be extremely hard.

"We got an important draw but it was also good because Manchester United dropped two points.

"We want to approach Celtic and Aalborg in the same way - showing them respect because they are not easy teams to beat.

"In Manchester we had three or four important players missing and I am not sure if we will have our best team against Celtic. We can lose points at home."

Had Kris Boyd connected properly with an effort in the second leg of their Euro tussle, Rangers could have become only the second team in 23 European games to win in El Madrigal.

AZ Alkmaar achieved the sole victory while the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Roma have all failed. That's the size of the task awaiting Celtic.

Pellegrini said: "The reason we have a great home record is because we are a good team. We win a lot of games at El Madrigal, it's simple.

"We drew with Arsenal in the semi-finals of the Champions League when we should have scored at least three goals.

"Our last home defeat was against AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup and it happened because of a disputed penalty.

"The two Rangers games were difficult. I'm not sure if Celtic will be better or not.

"I saw Celtic play Barcelona last season in the Champions League and don't know if they are quite on the same level as Manchester United but they are a difficult team to play against.

"Every point the other teams lose is important to us and Celtic dropped two against Aalborg in their opening tie.

"For us it's crucial to win our first home game."