Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has stated that Manchester City could win UEFA champions League this season.
After a brilliant start of the Premier League season, Manchester City had two major blows coming their way as they lost back to back Premier League games to West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur.
Yesterday Tottenham Hotspur thrashed the Cityzens 4-1 at White Hart Lane but the Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini came up with an unlikely statement in the post match press conference.
The Chilean gaffer claimed that his side is good enough to win UEFA Champions League.
City started their season brightly with five wins out of their firt five league games but they lost three games among their last four.
The first of those defeats came in UEFA Champions League group stage against Serie A champions Juventus. City took one goal lead but conceded two goals later and lost the game.
Manchester City’s poor form in Champions League is not new and they have never made it to the quarter finals of the competitions in the last few years despite their brilliant squad and dominance in England which won them two out of last four Premier League titles.
Former Villarreal and Malaga manager, who reached semi finals of the competition with both the sides, gave an excuse that his side was unlucky to face Spanish giants Barcelona in the round of 16 for the last two seasons which made them disappointed in Europe.
Ahead of the Sky Blues’ trip to Germany this midweek to face Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, Manuel Pellegrini said, “We have played Barcelona in the last two years and if we had played Barcelona at Villarreal or Malaga then maybe we wouldn’t have gone so far.
“This is a very young team compared with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Juventus. We are younger than the teams who normally win the Champions League over the last 10 years.
“Our team has only arrived in the last few years and we are improving every season.
“That will continue and I am absolutely sure that we will arrive to be an important team that wins the Champions League.”
Manchester City were leading the table from the start of the season, slipped to number two in the table yesterday behind their local rivals Manchester United.
With the likes of major absentees like David Silva and Vincent Kompany due to injuries and a poor form in the last few games, City players will have to work hard to beat the Bundsliga side who are struggling in German League this season.
With the huge investment the owners have made in the team, they must expect good performance in the elite competition of Europe and the after the manager’s statements it is up to the players to make the statement on the pitch.
Not only in Champions League, they have to do better in Premier League also. After yesterday’s poor performance against Tottenham Hotspur, they have a lot of grounds to make up if they want to win the League.