In the first decade of this century, Manuel Pellegrini led Villarreal CF from the bench to a qualitative leap forward. Under the Chilean coach, the team from Castellón consolidated its place among the best Spanish teams and even came close to reaching the Champions League final in 2006. This small review will serve to measure Marcelino’s numbers at the helm of Villarreal.
Pedro Martín’s account on X (@pedritonumeros) gave several data to compare the trajectory of both coaches at the club. The Asturian is the second -within professional football- to reach 200 games in charge of the yellow team. Pellegrini was the first, and left the club with 259 games under his belt. MGT not only stands up to comparison, but also surpasses the Chilean in number of wins after 200 matches. García Toral has 98 wins, 51 draws and 51 defeats. Pellegrini, meanwhile, had 95 wins, 55 draws and 50 defeats in his first 200 games as Villarreal manager.
These 200 matches with Marcelino are broken down into 130 in the First Division, 21 in the Second Division, 18 in the Copa del Rey and 31 in the Europa League.
