58th minute. Free kick for Villarreal near Inter Milan’s penalty area. Juan Román Riquelme takes the kick with precision, and Rodolfo Arruabarrena barely flicks the ball with his head—enough to score the only goal of the match. Villarreal, making its Champions League debut, has just eliminated one of Europe’s giants, advancing to the semifinals of the world’s most prestigious club tournament.
Universidad Católica, LDU de Quito, San Lorenzo, River Plate, Villarreal, Real Madrid, Málaga, Manchester City, and Betis are part of a legacy that spans more than three decades, with titles in five countries and seasons that have gone down in the history of several of those clubs.
Just a few meters from La Rosaleda Stadium in Málaga, there is a roundabout named after Manuel Pellegrini. There, as in many other parts of the world, he will be remembered for generations to come.
