Although the future of Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini is currently up in the air, Barcelona tactician Pep Guardiola has given the Chilean his backing.

Guardiola, who led the Blaugrana to a historic treble last season, told the critics that they should allow Pellegrini to settle in at the club and gave the coach his best wishes.

"He has the same taste for football [as he did at Villarreal], but if anyone thinks that the treble is won in October, they are wrong," Guardiola is quoted as saying by Sport.

"It takes time, and it is a process. I wish him the best luck in the world because he is a wonderful coach."

According to some reports, Guti and Pellegrini had a heated argument at half-time during los Merengues' Copa del Rey defeat to Alcorcon. The Barcelona coach is unaware of any internal problems, but believes that such a defeat can happen to anyone.

"I don't know what's happening in the Real Madrid dressing room. In these sort of situations, when they happen to me, I take action on what I see.

"The fact this has happened to a team like Real Madrid means that it could happen to us. It could happen tomorrow [against Osasuna] or against a third division side.

"It's happened to Barcelona in the past and it's something that could happen again," he concluded.