Champions League progress pleases Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini

Coach Manuel Pellegrini was delighted to prove the doubters wrong after guiding Malaga into the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history

Pellegrini, who defied all expectations by leading Villarreal to the Champions League semi-finals in 2006, also played down any suggestion he might look to rest players for the final two matches. He added: "We will continue competing. It's a relief for a small squad to already have the qualification in our hands. We still have to assure ourselves of first place in the group and this is the objective that we are now targeting. "We want to go as far as our football allows. If a better team beat us because they have more quality then there is nothing we can do."