Real Madrid visits Betis at La Cartuja as Mourinho and Pellegrini reunite fifteen years later

Fifteen years after a comment that poisoned their relationship, Mourinho and Pellegrini will once again look each other in the eye from opposing benches. This Friday, Real Madrid visits Betis at La Cartuja, and the reunion arrives at a very different moment for each man: one is on a roll, the other needs to bounce back quickly from a blow.

Pellegrini's Betis still feels the sting of a 5-2 defeat to Levante, a loss that raised questions about the defensive solidity of a team that had looked far more organized in other stretches of the season. On the other side, Mourinho's Madrid arrives in scoring form, coming off a 4-0 win over Malaga at the Bernabeu and a 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad, eight goals in two matches that confirm the Whites' attack is firing on all cylinders.

And that attack has a name, or rather three. Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe were directly involved in nine of Madrid's ten goals through their first three matches of the season. The only one that slipped past them was Carlos Espi's goal against Espanyol, and even that play started from a Mbappe shot that rebounded into the net. Mourinho will keep much of the same lineup that delivered those results, though there's one change at left back: Marc Cucurella is winning the job over Alvaro Carreras.

An old wound, long healed

In his pre-match comments, Mourinho had time to touch on everything. He was critical of Raul Asencio, who was fined 14,400 euros and banned from driving for eight months after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol. But he also took the chance to revisit an episode from 2011, when he was in charge of Real Madrid and said that if he ever left the Whites' bench, he would never coach Malaga because he wanted to be at "a big club." Pellegrini, Malaga's manager at the time, took it personally, and the comment lingered, uncomfortable, for years. Over time, Mourinho himself came around on the story and admitted those words hadn't aged well.

I felt like an idiot. Pellegrini is an example as a person.Jose Mourinho

Friday will mark the eighteenth time the two have faced off as rivals, counting their spells in Spain and England. The head to head favors Mourinho, with eight wins to Pellegrini's five and four draws. Among the highlights: that memorable 7-0 Madrid win over Malaga with a Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick, but also Pellegrini's own revenge, a 3-2 win at La Rosaleda featuring a brace from Roque Santa Cruz and a goal from a young Isco, now Betis captain.

What's at stake for Betis

Beyond the history between the two coaches, Betis arrives needing to rediscover the solid form that had them picking up six of a possible nine points, right before their Champions League debut against Lille. Pellegrini could shake up his lineup and give more minutes to Isco Alarcon, who's been building form with increasingly good sensations, with Pablo Fornals as an alternative in that role. Up front, Cucho Hernandez looks set to start for his mobility, with Troy Parrott waiting for his chance.

Betis's game plan is also expected to lean on set pieces and crosses from wide areas, a zone where Mourinho's Madrid is still fine tuning its defensive mechanisms this early in the project. Betis, though, will be without Dani Ceballos, who only recently returned to the club after nine years at Madrid and is still working his way back into full training, as well as Giovani Lo Celso and Ez Abde, the latter dealing with a fever.

Pellegrini was the first to admit his team was far from its best against Levante. Now he has to prove it against a far tougher opponent, in a match that also reopens, in a different tone, a story that began with resentment and today is told almost fondly.