Relieved Pellegrini salutes Real team spirit November 02, 2009
Under-fire Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini breathed a huge sigh of relief after Real put their disastrous Alcorcon cup humiliation behind them with a 2-0 derby win over Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
With criticism ringing in his ears following a 4-0 Kings Cup thrashing by third division Alcorcon on Tuesday, Pellegrini must have feared the worst when defender Raul Albiol was sent off on 27 minutes for tugging Roberto Soldado's shirt.
Down to 10 men Real showed real fighting spirit and Gonzalo Higuain, still struggling to win a regular place in the side, scored twice to secure a morale-boosting win ahead of Tuesday's Champions League match at AC Milan.
"What pleased me most was the spirit and that was something that couldn't be lacking," said Pellegrini.
"It was important to turn in a good performance at the Bernabeu and the win was vital after a terrible week.
"The fans jeered before the game but during the match they never stopped supporting us."
Real's victory saw them close to within a point of leaders Barcelona who drew 1-1 with Osasuna on Saturday.
Pellegrini was clearly perplexed by the dismissal of Albiol but resisted the temptation to vent his fury at the referee.
"The sending off was unfair as there was no danger to the goal and the player had his back to goal so it does not merit a red card," said Pellegrini.
"We were hard done by but I am not going to analyse the referee's performance."
Pellegrini has only been in the job since the summer but discovered the pressure after a 3-2 defeat by Champions League rivals AC Milan was followed by a 0-0 draw at Sporting Gijon and then the Alcorcon shambles.
Some newspapers said his brief reign could be about to come to a premature end but president Florentino Perez backed Pellegrini.
"Big name coaches have been appearing in the newspapers but we are happy with (Manuel) Pellegrini," said Perez. "We are sure that with Pellegrini in charge the season will turn out positively. We just have to be patient."
Expectations are high after a summer outlay of over 200 million euros and Pellegrini knows that despite the support he can't afford too many Alcorcon fiascos.
"We needed a win to forget what had happened recently and look forward to the next game against Milan," said defender Sergio Ramos.
Cristiano Ronaldo was again absent with an ankle injury but Ramos said Real had the squad to cope with the loss of the world's most expensive player.
"We know he (Ronaldo) is a decisive player and brings a lot to the team but he has been injured and we can't count on him at the moment," said Ramos.
"Nobody is irreplaceable in this big squad we have and there are other players to come in."
With the Alcorcon shambles behind them, although they still have a second leg to turn around the 4-0 deficit, Real have a decisive week with a trip to Milan on Tuesday and then an away derby at struggling Atletico Madrid at the weekend.
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