Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City can still win the Premier League - 7M sport

Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City can still win the Premier League

• Manager concedes that Manchester United pose threat to City
• ‘I’ve always said we are going to finish fighting for the title’


Posted Saturday, March 05, 2016 by theguardian.com

Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City can still win the Premier League

Manuel Pellegrini has conceded that Manchester City could fail to qualify for the Champions League and believes Manchester United pose a serious threat to his side’s hopes of doing so.

City are fourth with 47 points, 10 behind the leaders, Leicester City, and separated from fifth-placed United by goal difference, although City have a game in hand. Pellegrini insists his team can win the title with 11 matches left but also accepts they could finish outside the top four.

City host Aston Villa on Saturday having lost their past three Premier League matches and have not won back-to-back in the competition since October.

"In the Premier League nothing is inconceivable," Pellegrini said of the possibility of finishing fifth or lower. "Every year you have more stronger teams so everything can happen in the Premier League. [But] if I say that, you will put that City will not finish in the top four … I’ve always said that we are going to finish fighting for the title."

United have finally found consistency, winning their past four games in all competitions, the last two of these in the league and Pellegrini acknowledged Louis van Gaal’s side are a serious threat. "Yes, not only for the fourth place but for the title also. I said before that when it is mathematically possible to win the title, a club like Manchester United will always have the option, the same as West Ham, the same as Manchester City and other clubs because we need to play for another 30 points," he said, though City, with 11 games left, could pick up 33. "It’s a lot of points and I don’t think that the gap can’t be reduced in these 10 games. If you go now to Leicester, last season, I think that they won 18 from 18 or 19 from 21 so be careful. Nothing is finished this season.

"Nobody can be sure you will finish first. It’s a very difficult league. That’s why last year when we didn’t win the title it was not bad to be in second. It’s a competitive league and every year more teams are trying to be in the top four but we continue thinking we can win the title.

"We have the points total we deserve. Maybe if we win the game we have in hand we are just one point behind Arsenal. Every manager has the duty to get their team as high as possible."

City are in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions League by winning it this season but have won only once in the league since the announcement that Pep Guardiola will succeed Pellegrini in the summer, losing their last three. The Chilean denied the team’s performance had been affected by the news of his departure. "It’s an issue we are not thinking about," he said. "We are focusing on the work we must do."



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