Friday 22 April 2016 14:23, UK
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said his season at Real Madrid was the "most painful" period of his coaching career.
City face Real Madrid next Tuesday in their Champions League semi-final first leg, offering Pellegrini a chance of beating the team he coached in the 2009/10 campaign.
During Pellegrini's time in charge at the Bernabeu, Real were knocked out of Europe's elite competition by Lyon at the first knockout stage, lost in the Copa del Rey to third division Alcorcon and finished second in the league to rivals Barcelona.
He was sacked in the summer of 2010 and replaced by former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
"My time at Madrid was the most painful. The team was not complete, it was still in a phase of formation and had some evident problems," Pellegrini said in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca.
Madrid spent 257 million euros (£201m) on players in the summer of 2009 when the Chilean took over, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Kaka.
However, Pellegrini criticised the sales of winger Arjen Robben to Bayern Munich and midfielder Wesley Sneijder to Inter Milan.
"The frustration made me think about resigning in pre-season," said Pellegrini. "We had a lot of strikers and too few midfielders. It was not a team to win the Champions League.
"I knew they were going to sack me since I arrived, since August. Not after Alcorcon or the Champions League elimination. I had no relationship with the board," added the 62-year-old.
City, who won the Capital One Cup earlier this season, occupy fourth place in the Premier League table, but Pellegrini insists there is no hard feelings over his departure from the club.
