"I’m not afraid of who we are going to play in the next round. We have a strong squad. All of them would not be happy to play against us”
Manuel Pellegrini believes that Barcelona and Real Madrid will want to avoid facing rampant Manchester City in the Champions League.
Pellegrini accepts City are likely to land one of Europe’s heavyweights in the last 16 because they are destined to finish second in their group behind Bayern Munich.
The Blues' first-year boss is undaunted, insisting no-one will relish playing his free-scoring side, who have banged in 15 goals in their five games in Group D following their 4-2 victory over Viktoria Plzen.
“Spain has strong teams, Barcelona and Real Madrid especially, but also Atletico Madrid are having a very good season,” he said.
“But I’m not afraid of who we are going to play in the next round. It’s not a major problem. Anything can happen in two games. We have a strong squad.
“People might say it’s difficult for us to play against Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico – or Paris Saint-Germain are another team we could face.
“But all of them would not be happy to play against us.”
David Ramos
Pellegrini is bullish because he can see City maturing following their two previous failures in the Champions League.
“I trust this squad a lot so I hope they can continue in the Champions League,” he said. “It’s important to be strong mentally. Also it’s important to be a winning, ambitious team. Mixing good players with ambition is the best way to try to win.
“Of course, these are teams are beatable. They are strong teams and have worked for a lot of years.
“This club is just starting to think and to work as a big team, bringing in very good players. It has a very important history, but in the last four years they have been trying to have the power to fight with the most important clubs.
“We are going the right way and I’m absolutely sure we can beat any other team. The most important thing is to have the right mentality.
“The players must feel they can do important things, have the ambition to win. Not only in the Premier League, but also in the Champions League and Capital One Cup. These players should have targets.”
Pellegrini knows City are not going to beat Bayern by the three goals needed to pip the Champions League holders to top spot and so will rest players for their final group game.
City’s trip to the Allianz Arena is sandwiched by Premier League games against Southampton and Arsenal and Pellegrini added: “When we qualified I felt relief because I knew it was so important for the club to do it. That was the first target.
“I don’t think we need to worry about anything else. Maybe the game before and game after in the Premier League will be more important.”
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