Former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has on Sunday, April 24, made history in Spain six years after the English giants dropped him as their manager.
Pellegrini, who is now in charge of Real Betis, led the club to its first trophy in 17 years after they edged out Valencia to lift the Copa Del Rey at the Estadio de La Cartuja.
Betis and Valencia played out to a 1-1 draw at full time after goals by Borja Iglesias and Hugo Duro, who both found the back of the net in the first 45 minutes of the game.
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Pellegrini's men drew first blood in the 11th minute with Iglesias rising highest to nod home a cross from former Arsenal right-back, Hector Bellerin.
The forward nearly doubled his tally owing to a defensive blunder by Valencia's defense but was caught flat-footed in a one-on-one encounter with goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Los Che equalised at the half-hour mark, following an impressive counter-attack. Ilaix Moriba set up Duro with a through ball, who chipped it over Claudio Bravo for the equalizer.
Despite offside appeals by Betis players, Spanish referee Alejandro Hernandez gave the goal after the video assistant referees showed that the talisman was onside. Betis kept on pressing for a second, hitting the woodwork before the halftime.
In the second half, both keepers were brought to test. Betis had a penalty appeal turned down after Nabil Fekir was brought down in the 18-yard box and risked conceding on yet another Valencia counter.
With both teams failing to score, the match went to penalties. Both teams netted their first three penalties but substitute Yunus Dimora's kick was off the target, as he hit the ball over the crossbar.
Substitute Juan Miranda fired far left to the send stopper the wrong way to seal Betis' victory. The victory meant more to Joaquin Rodrigues, who was part of the squad that lifted the cup in 2005.
The 40-year-old was happy to have won the cup, which was a special guest at his wedding ceremony.
Pellegrini's cup is only evidence of his improvement on the side. Betis are currently fifth on the La Liga table, four points away from a Champions League spot.