Cedric Bakumbu struck the winner early in the second-half for Betis, leaving Pellegrini happy with the win.
Match assessment:
"The most important thing today was to get the three points. I think the team had the maturity throughout the game to not let itself be surprised by any counterattack. It was very easy to attack and get caught off guard. Keeping a clean sheet again after several games in which they were conceding goals was also important. We tried hard, especially in the second half when we had more offensive volume, and with the score at 0-1 you tend to defend a bit more. But except for that offside goal, which was offside, we knew how to defend pretty well."
A lot of suffering at the end:
"When we were already 0-1 down, we had a couple of clear chances to close the game out and we didn't do it. Obviously, the last few minutes are more tense and one tends to retreat further back. That's why I highlight having kept a clean sheet and I think that they, despite having spent those ten minutes putting a lot of balls into the area, didn't have any clear chances to score except for that offside goal. So I think that defensively we were attentive in order to maintain that scoreline that we often have to achieve."
It depends on the players to qualify:
"We'll take three more points and see where we end up after the other matches. The ideal situation would be to finish between 9th and 16th, as we can't get into the top eight, and have the return leg at home. The important thing is to qualify and we have to go for the three points at home against HJK. On the other hand, we're still in the top flight with seven or eight fewer players. Thursdays usually take their toll on Sundays, so we're trying to rotate and make the whole squad feel important in order to stay alive in all competitions."
Review of the Conference so far:
"First we have to qualify, one game left, results are missing. The first objective was to qualify. At a press level, we were almost champions before playing. Playing three competitions with eight or nine fewer players is very difficult. Being in the top flight in December in the two competitions in which you can be eliminated is an important achievement. Now we have to wait and see what happens to see where we qualify. With rotations and a number of important injuries, if we manage to qualify, which is one step away, for me it would be a pass without being happy with the game we displayed in this competition."
Message to the fans:
"It's difficult to know what will happen in February. We have all the midfielders injured, it's harder to play, it's not that we don't want to. The important thing is to achieve the objectives of December, they are practically there. We would all like to get ahead of our rivals, but we have to make changes, the League is still the most important thing. We will try to get as high as possible when we qualify for the next round."