Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has looked back at his time at Real Madrid and has described it as one of his 'toughest challenges' while admitting that the club is unlike any other club when it comes to managing.
The Chilean spent only one season in the club but managed to nearly win the title. His biggest achievement, however, is the signing of Portuguese superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo. Although, he has admitted that the club doesn't function only on sporting grounds.
Speaking to reporters before the second leg of the UEFA Champions League tie, Pellegrini said, "When you are in charge at Real Madrid, you have to be able to accept that it is not just a sporting club, it's also very political.
"And also to what extent you are willing to allow people who, in my opinion, do not have sufficient knowledge of football interfere...
"If a coach lets somebody who has no understanding of the game interfere, or allows themselves to be weakened by the criticism which originates from the political side, the sporting side or even for personal reasons, then I don't think that person is suitable for the job," he added.
Even though the club 'need' the manager to do so much more, he's proud of what he went through admitting that it was an excellent experience. "That's why I feel I was lucky enough to have passed one of the toughest challenges I have come up against without letting it affect me at all.
"I always knew that what the players appreciated most about me was that when we turned up for work on Monday morning, nothing had changed - whether we had won or lost - the work was the same, the concepts were the same, independently of what was being said on the outside.
"I never fielded a player to please someone else - or because they had been criticized by someone else. Madrid have a model which is not going to change."
Pellegrini was asked to leave the club at the end of the season but he's confirmed that he knew about the decision. "I was perfectly aware of what was going to happen because Florentino Pérez told (Villarreal president) Fernando Roig and he told me (smiles)."
Lastly, when he was asked about Cristiano Ronaldo and the chance to manage a global superstar like him, he said, "He's a player who has made all the difference for the past few years. I had the bad luck of being in charge during the only time when Cristiano was out for two months with an ankle problem..."
Pellegrini's Manchester City travel to Spain to take on Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League fixture. The first leg ended 0-0 with City facing a sans-Ronaldo Real Madrid.
