Manuel Pellegrini has blasted UEFA for drawing Manchester City in the Champions League ‘group of death’ for the second year running ahead of Wednesday’s Bayern Munich clash.
The Chilean, celebrating his 61st birthday, said his team is in for a ‘very tough time’, as he prepares to face the German champions, who won Europe’s top competition in 2013.
The common consensus is that City, who won the Premiership last term, have been drawn into the toughest group in the competition, facing Bayern, CSKA Moscow and AS Roma.
Pellegrini admitted it will be ‘very difficult’ to qualify from the group, and conceded he would have preferred avoiding Bayern and CSKA for the second consecutive year.
“It [the Champions League] is, for the champions,” Pellegrini said. “I think that the champions of England and the champions of the German league, with both leagues being among the best leagues in Europe, they deserve to be in pot 1.
Welcome to Munich, @MCFC! #FCBMCFC pic.twitter.com/lw2lglZVuu
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) September 16, 2014
“This season we again have Bayern Munich, Manchester City and CSKA Moscow. I do not think it is good to repeat the group exactly as the year before.
“I don´t think it´s good that the teams who play qualification because they finished fourth in their domestic leagues are in pot 1, where the strongest teams should be.
“In our group we have three domestic champions, the English champions, the German champions, and the Russian champions. So our group seems a bit unbalanced.”
Pellegrini has called for the way teams are matched needs to be addressed for next season so that champions are not drawn against champions of other leagues so early in the competition.
Despite his frustration, he believes the experience of reaching the last 16 for the first time last season will give his players confidence to go even further this time round.
BAYERN V CITY: On the way to Munich. View the full set of exclusive shots on Facebook: http://t.co/bASJ6d1eAl #mcfc pic.twitter.com/XbO2ur0WNi
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) September 16, 2014
“I think that the experience of the teams is very important and to have played last season with Manchester City, a team which has never qualified for the knock-out stages,” he said.
“The fact of having qualified for it last season, and having been in the toughest group, coming second with 15 points in the group stage.
“I think that increases the confidence of the players for this season and the future, and I hope, but you never know of course, that we will see a more mature Manchester City in the Champions League, and a Manchester City that will try to do better than the year before.”
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