Pellegrini earns Villarreal prize
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Article summary
Villarreal CF coach Manuel Pellegrini has been rewarded with a new contract after his team's success in reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Article body
Villarreal CF coach Manuel Pellegrini has been rewarded with a new contract after his team's success in reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Immediate success
The 52-year-old Chilean and his assistant Rubén Cousillas will stay at El Madrigal until the end of the 2006/07 campaign at least, a feat that would make Pellegrini the longest-serving coach in the Spanish club's history. Pellegrini arrived at Villarreal in April 2004 from CA River Plate in Argentina and has not looked back.
Inter or Ajax
Last season, he guided the side to a fourth-placed finish in the Primera División to earn UEFA Champions League qualification for the first time, having also reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals after winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Villarreal will meet either FC Internazionale Milano or AFC Ajax in the last eight of the UEFA Champions League.