Real Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini was delighted with their Europa League win against Sparta Prague.

Betis won 2-1 via goals from Assane Diao and Isco.

Pellegrini said: "We make a very positive balance, not only because of the victory. We knew how to correct the mistakes of the first in the second half. They had control in the first half, we were not good then. They handle the ball well. In the second half we were more intense. We scored two goals and had more clear chances. You can't always play 90 minutes well, we were playing against a great team.

"Victory gives security in what we are doing. I already said that it was not serious after some bad results. The team wants to be the protagonist. We closed the Europa League before the break. It would be important in Vitoria to continue deducting points with the teams from the European zone.

"We played against the Czech champion, who plays very good football. We weren't a disaster in the first half, it was just bad and the second half was more than acceptable. The teams have a rival that prevents them from playing 90 minutes well."