Pellegrini baffled as City leave it late against Borussia Monchengladbach

“I am sure that Manchester City will win the Champions League in the future because the whole club works well”, the Chilean was quoted as saying in the Manchester Evening News.

Manuel Pellegrini will be looking for a response from his Manchester City side as they travel to Germany to take on Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League. It could have been 4-4 after an hour but then we dominated the game.

“They played better than us, especially defensively because we didn’t defend well, but after that we had a strong reaction for the last 30 minutes and finally we won the game“.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini had to rush home to get his passport after he forgot to take it to the airport prior to the team’s flight to Germany.

But a number of Man City players missed the session on Tuesday morning and will not feature against Monchengladbach – Vincent Kompany (calf), Eliaquim Mangala (groin), Gael Clichy (ankle), Fabian Delph (hamstring) and Wilfried Bony were all absent. Should they follow up an opening defeat by Juventus by losing here, Pellegrini’s passport may not be required for much longer.

The Citizens had been enjoying the cushion at the zenith of the Premier League table until their Belgian centre-back limped off the pitch against the Old Lady at Etihad Stadium, but their manager stated in the pre-match press conference that injuries to David Silva and Yaya Toure had also played an important role in their slight decline.

The result moved City up to three points with Gladbach still to earn any in Group D. Juventus are top on six after beating Sevilla 2-0, with the Spaniards in second place also on three. The Argentine’s group?stage hat-trick against Bayern last season showcased his quality and cool precision in front of goal, but he is repeatedly shouldering the goalscoring burden on his own and City have faltered because Aguero’s fellow strikers have failed to deliver.

“I don’t think we have failed in Europe”, Pellegrini told reporters.

Pellegrini shared media duties with Kevin de Bruyne who, on a personal level, has made a flying start to his City career after his £54million move from Wolfsburg a month ago.

The 24-year-old said: “It is nice to score goals, but I prefer to win to be honest”.

“But I think it will be hard for him to play for the national team next week”. “He is our captain and he started the season very well but I don’t think one player can be that crucial”.

“Of course, Vincent is a very important player”, said the 62-year-old.