Abde arrived last in the locker room and when he entered he was surely expecting a reprimand from the coach and his assistants but nothing happened. The Betis officials focused on how to overcome Espanyol’s defense, make adjustments in the midfield and coordinate the pressure. Not a word about the penalty and the previous disobedience. Nothing. What the Chilean coach wanted was for the team to focus on the second half and for that mistake not to weigh on Abde’s head, one of his best offensive resources. Nor in Lo Celso either.

Thus, the Moroccan jumped back onto the field with the spirit of a crowd that wanted more from him because of how well he was doing. He almost scored with a header and faced on several occasions. Already 1-0 thanks to Lo Celso’s goal, Pellegrini rewarded Abde with a substitution in the 87th minute. Unanimous ovation for the winger from all of Villamarínaware that this player has to give Betis many afternoons of glory if he continues at this level. The winger left gratefully.

When he passed through the technical area he was greeted warmly by Pellegrini, who had seen the same thing as the others. In the summer they already talked about the attitude and the player has been responding perfectly in training and games. However, with the penalty he stumbled over the same rock as last season, when he took the ball to throw it without being the specialist. in the home duel against Real Sociedad. Then he also contravened the orders of Pellegrini, who wanted Fekir to throw him. The Frenchman did like Lo Celso, letting Abde throw him if he had confidence. And he failed anyway.

In the press room everyone was waiting for Pellegrini’s response to this question and, far from being controversial, he was blunt and closed the circle by telling the reality of what had happened. «It has little explanation. Lo Celso is in charge. He left it to Abde, but it is a situation that I assure will not be repeated. I didn’t like that Abde was cast for Lo Celso. There was a change of pitcher, but it will be the last time it happens. During the break we didn’t even talk about it. He didn’t want the team and Abde to fall apart. Lo Celso was wrong and Abde was wrong. The same thing happened to him against Real last season and the fans dismissed him with whistles, but now they did it with a well-deserved ovation,” he said.

At the end of the match Pellegrini did speak with the players and he did so again this morning in training at the sports city. They already know what he wants and there are no doubts about his authority within the locker room. The captains are aware and although the Chilean understands that there are internal codes between players, his command is above in this type of situation.