made a quarter final and semifinal at Villarreal, tbf
True.
I have to correct my stance because I didn't mean he was bad in the CL nor that he was a bad coach at all. I meant he was under-achieving with big teams (Real, City).
The hombreh Manuel seems to fold under pressure when he's driving big clubs and Mourinho played him numerous times with that mind game since he came back in London. Pellegrini brings his best with clubs where the pressure (both media and result-wise) is tolerable. His Villareal had crazy results but this was not expected at all. Same with his Malaga and both in La Liga and in the CL and that's why I like him because he over-achieves with (relatively) "small" clubs. But even though he won the EPL last year (though it's mostly because Liverpool lost it), he displayed signs of melting when the spot light was over him.