Manuel Pellegrini refused to question the integrity of referees or accuse them of deliberately favouring one team over another ahead of Real Betis' Champions League clash with Feyenoord, despite the refereeing storm that followed his side's 5-2 defeat to Barcelona in La Liga.
The Betis boss insisted referees do not set out to influence results, backing their integrity while admitting the system has room for improvement.
"I don't believe the referees have any intention to help one team at the expense of another," Pellegrini said at the pre-match press conference. "I don't doubt the integrity of the referees. There are aspects that need to be improved, but I don't believe there is any premeditation, and there is no bad intent."
His comments come after that Barcelona defeat left Betis fuming. Giovani Lo Celso had a first-half goal ruled out, one that would have made it 2-2, before Facundo Bernal was sent off in the 54th minute.
Fornals refuses to dwell on the refereeing
Pablo Fornals chose to look past the controversy and fix his attention on the European tie, pointing out that a packed fixture list leaves little time to brood over the previous game.
According to the midfielder, the squad cannot afford to stop at the controversy, whatever their state of mind. Matches every three days force them to park results and turn to the next challenge.
A fourth consecutive home game now awaits, and the Spaniard is relishing the chance to put on a strong display in front of their own supporters and make amends for a defeat in which Betis had spells of competing fiercely with Barcelona.
Fornals declined to pass judgement on the decisions, noting that the referee, working with VAR, takes the final calls, and that arguing over them changes nothing.
The focus, he said, is the Champions League clash, with both sides chasing an edge, while the job of deciding which incidents warrant a video review stays with the officials.
Betis head into the tie looking to rebuild the morale knocked out of them at Barcelona. Their start to the competition has been excellent. Back-to-back 3-2 wins over Lille and Porto have delivered six points from the opening two rounds of the league phase.