Manuel Pellegrini has hit out at La Liga fixture schedulers and claimed they have hampered Real Betis ahead of their Europa League clash against Celtic.
The Spanish side aren’t in action until Monday night when they face the five-hour round trip to Andalusian rivals Granada.
Former Manchester City and West Ham United boss Pellegrini is unhappy at that with opposite number Ange Postecoglou enjoying more than 48 hours extra preparation time for the clash in the Benito Villamarín Stadium.
Celtic were in action against Ross County on Saturday afternoon with the Spanish side kicking off 8pm UK time against Granada.
And Chilean Pellegrini said: “While some games are moved, others are not, which is not good for the competition.
"It seems bad to me to play on Monday as well, Celtic play on Saturday. They have 48 hours more to recover and prepare for the game.
“These are small advantages that in the end it is not good to give them. Make no mistake, the most important game is on Monday, the league cannot be neglected.
"The people who organised this need to look at themselves. No one wants to play on a Monday at that time- Tuesday is a working day for the fans.
"In my opinion, the Europa League is more difficult for clubs than the Champions League because when you play away from home, you don't arrive back until Friday morning and most often you have to play on the Sunday. It's very demanding.
"We have tried to set up a team that can compete in three competitions. We haven't started too well in the league in terms of points, but I think we have deserved more points.
"But last season, we won our opening two league games and were bottom of the table after 11 games, so I am not reading too much into it.
"I have nothing to reproach the players about in terms of attitude and commitment. But I repeat, we cannot afford to neglect the league for Europe. We will treat the match against Granada as if it is a final."
Pellegrini is also unhappy at the FIFA calendar with most countries forced to play a World Cup qualifying triple header in the international break.
He said: “Playing three matches (with their national teams) is too much, the majority of footballers return with little chance of playing."
