Manchester City will not prioritise the Champions League, says Manuel Pellegrini
Man City's title challenge looks to be over - but that won't stop them trying to win every game.
Posted Monday, March 14, 2016 by manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Manuel Pellegrini insists Saturday’s draw with Norwich, which leaves his side nine points adrift of Leicester in the Premier League table with nine games left to play, doesn’t mean he will now prioritise the Champions League.
City face Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday in the second leg of their last-16 tie with the Ukrainians. They are 3-1 up from the away leg and stand on the brink of their first ever Champions League quarter-final place.
But Pellegrini says it isn’t in his side’s makeup to place one competition above another – and insists City will be trying to win every game from now until the end of the season.
"No because it’s not our mentality," he said when asked if Europe now takes precedence. "We are not giving priority to one championship over another one. [They are] two different competitions.
"It’s important to try to continue in Champions League, winning on Tuesday and arrive to the next stage. But that doesn’t mean we are not going to continue fighting in the Premier League.
"On Tuesday we are going to be thinking about the Champions League and finish that game. Then we are going to continue thinking of the Premier League.
"So, until the end of the season we are not going to give up and we are not going to change our mentality and say we’re going to focus just on the Champions League. It’s not out mentality.
"Both competitions are difficult, with different problems but the most important thing is for our team to try and have a better performance in each game that we play. "
The fitness of David Silva remains a concern, with the Spaniard playing with pain in his ankles that is restricting his movement.
He struggled against Norwich to find the killer ball City so badly needed but Pellegrini says his injury isn’t the reason why they failed to score – and that resting him isn’t something he is thinking about.
"We are always talking with the doctor and David,” he said. “He feels some pain in his ankle but he say that he can play. But I don’t want to focus that we could not score goals today because David has a problem in his ankle because last game we score four against Aston Villa.
"We are not going to prioritise any competition. We are going to play with the best squad that we can in every game in both competitions."
Asked why his side had failed to win back-to-back league matches in over five months, Pellegrini struggled to offer an answer.
"For different reasons, not to be analysed here, we couldn’t be the consistent team that we must be."
Photos
More»
[PICTURE SPECIAL] Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
Wednesday April 24 2024
Marcos Llorente’s wife wows in barely there swimsuit
Wednesday April 24 2024
Your Say