Player Profile

Pellegrino started his career in Velez Sarsfield in Argentina in 1990 where he stayed for the majority of the 90's before joining Barcelona on loan in the 1998/99 season, where he won the first of his three Spanish titles. The tall Argentinian became a key figure in the heart of Rafa Benítez' defence at Valencia, winning La Liga in 2002 and 2004. Pellegrino acquired a wealth of experience in European football as he competed in two Champions League finals and won the UEFA Cup. In the 2001 final against Bayern Munich Pellegrino suffered the worst nightmare of any footballer when he missed the decisive penalty in the shoot-out. Benítez brought the 33-year-old Beatles' fan over in January 2005: "I could not sleep for several nights after the move was confirmed. The first free weekend I get I plan to visit everything in the city that is connected with the Beatles," Pellegrino said, who was occasionally referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" by the Argentinian press. It was painfully clear that he was over the hill when he came to Liverpool and after an uneventful five months he went back to Spain with Alaves. Pellegrino returned to Liverpool in the summer of 2008 as first-team coach and left in 2010 as Benítez was sacked as manager. He followed Rafa to Inter where he along with his boss only stayed a few months.

In the summer of 2012 Pellegrino was appointed manager of his old club, Valencia. He only lasted until December 2012 when, although Valencia had progressed to the last 16 in the Champions League, they had only won five out of fourteen league games, leaving them twelfth in the table. He then spent three years in Argentina managing Estudiantes and then Independiente. In 2016-17 he was abck in Speain, leading Alaves to the Copa del Rey final and returned to the Premiership in June 2017, taking over at Southampton. He was sacked in March 2018 and the following June was appointed at La Liga side Leganes. He led them to a club best ever thirteenth finish but left by mutual consent after a poor start to the following season. He spent three years back in South America, first with Velez Sarsfield then Universidad Chile before returning to Spain in January 20924 to manage relegation threatened Cadiz. After failing to keep them in La Liga he left at the end of the season.