Manchester City to prioritise Champions League over FA Cup

Chelsea now sits 12th in the Premier League and was defeated 2-1 by PSG in the first leg of the Champions League.

Chelsea have got both of their starting centre-backs unavailable for selection for this game. Kurt Zouma, who will be out for the rest of the season, and John Terry, whose injury isn’t that serious and should be back next game. “The team we are going to play against Chelsea will give young players a chance”.

“When a player comes into the Premier League, saying “I don’t want to go on loan, I want to make my progress here”, and when they get their first goal – and it was a attractive goal, a typical striker’s goal which I like very much – it was a tremendous joy for him”.

That’s followed by a game in Ukraine against Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday in the last 16 of the Champions League, before a showpiece Wembley final against Liverpool in the League Cup.

“We analyse why we didn’t play well, which were the mistakes we made”.

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So far, the 69-year-old Dutchman has achieved what he set out to do in stabilising the team and putting some confidence back in the players.

Pellegrini says young players, when given the chance, must take their opportunity, with many expecting Kelechi Iheanacho, Bersant Celina and perhaps one or two other EDS stars to play against Chelsea. You don’t have the squad for four competitions.

Hiddink, who took over from Jose Mourinho on a short-term basis after the Portuguese departed in December, thinks Chelsea has fallen behind the biggest club’s in Europe.

“But you must also be intelligent and you must make the best decision for the team”.

“I have enough problems trying to manage a team not to manage the FA”, laughed Pellegrini when asked for a solution. “We have two cups and we have supported those cups”. After that, we have to think about the Champions League, then the Capital One Cup, then the league.

“We know we have fallen short in previous seasons but we honestly feel we are well equipped to make a real challenge for the big prize this time around”.

He said: “For the moment, nobody can do it. Maybe one day, someone will but something is not right”.

City has not lost an away game in the FA Cup for six years, but that record might just be broken due to absence of a number of senior players.