Pellegrini said: "That's right, Claudio did not play in this match, his contract with the club was ending, we had to see Fran with a great responsibility in a match as important as this to make decisions for next season.
"But the Claudio's contribution, who for different reasons this year had a lot of injuries and could not be more on the field, I think that in the locker room has been very important for what we have achieved."
On Nabil Fekir, he added: "In recent weeks there have been rumours of at least 17 or 18 players who could leave or enter. We all know the quality that Nabil has, today unfortunately he could not participate due to a very serious blow to his ankle that didn't let him perform. But I think players like Fekir are very difficult to find."