A home goal from Rodolfo Arruabarrena in the second-leg of the UCL quarter-finals against Inter in the Madrigal Stadium handed Villarreal their semi-final berth on the away goal rule after losing the first-leg in Milan 2-1.

"I wouldn't class this as a miracle or as a dream come true," Pellegrini told reporters after the victory. "Our success is based on hard work and the construction of a good squad in recent years."

"We have also got some great players, maybe not as many as sides like Inter or Manchester United. But I would sum up our success as a combination of conviction and hard work," the Chilean boss added.

Villarreal, playing in the competition for the first time, had the better of their Italian opponents in both games, but that came as no surprise to Pellegrini.

"I was convinced we would eliminate Inter as I thought we lost unjustly in Milan. We knew we were playing against a great team, but we are a great team too," said a confident Pellegrini.

"More importantly our players were not satisfied with what they had done. We played a great game and we were better than Inter.

"I wouldn't say we crushed them, but we always had them under control and they were never comfortable. It was an even first half, but we were in charge in the second and we could have won more handsomely."