Kaká's adviser calls Manuel Pellegrini a 'coward' after substitution

Last night was not a good one for Manuel Pellegrini. The Real Madrid coach watched his side crash out of the Champions League to Lyon, received the dreaded vote of confidence from the club's director general and, finally, was described as a "coward" by Kaká's adviser following his substitution of the Brazilian at the Bernabéu. Diogo Kotscho also used his personal Twitter account to accuse Pellegrini of "trying to take the focus off [his] own incompetence" with the substitution of the player who joined Real for €65m (£56m) from Milan in the summer. Kaká was replaced by Raúl with 13 minutes to go. Kotscho was then bombarded with criticism, seemingly from Real fans, though he was keen to defend himself, tweeting: "[I] did not say anything to offend anyone. I gave my opinion at the moment and I will not erase," and "I accept everyone's opinion ... I gave [mine] generally about something that happens in football." Kaká told the Spanish newspaper Marca that he was not upset with the substitution. "I did not like the situation of the game," he said. "I was not angry about the change, but the scoreline. I was replaced by Raúl, who has a lot of experience in scoring."