Manuel Pellegrini sure Man City will eventually win Champions League

Posted Monday, September 29, 2014 by ESPN

Manual Pellegrini claimed not to be surprise about Frank Lampard's scoring ability for Manchester City.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini feels it is only a matter of time before the club wins the Champions League.

While City have won the Premier League twice in three seasons, as well as having claimed the FA Cup and Capital One Cup in recent years, they have struggled in Europe.

Having failed to get out of the Champions League group stage in both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 campaigns, they advanced to the last 16 for the first time in their history last term, only to then be eliminated by Barcelona.

City suffered a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in their opening game of this season's competition, but Pellegrini is sure the club are heading in the right direction.

"I am absolutely sure that Manchester City will eventually win the Champions League," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports. "Of course, it is not the most important title to win but when it happens -- and it will -- it will not mean that this project is finished.

"City don't just want to win the Champions League once. The owners are aiming to become one of those clubs that believes they can win it every year.

"That means reaching the final or the semifinal regularly -- and also winning trophies like the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup. We have won the title twice in three years and we were also runners-up."

Despite City's domestic success in recent seasons, Pellegrini feels the club need to prove themselves in Europe in order to become a real force to be reckoned with.

"We have won the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup, so in domestic competitions we are doing as well as any other team," he said. "But if you want to be a really big team, you must be involved in all competitions -- in Europe and in England.

"I don't think City have underachieved in the Champions League. What you have seen is the normal growth of a team. But the biggest step is to be successful in the Champions League and the Premier League. That's what clubs like Real Madrid or Barcelona or Bayern Munich do.

"It's not the death of the club if we don't win the Champions League this year. But I hope that this year we improve again. For me, a successful season is always about doing better than you did last year. Now is the time for us to step up."

City continue their Champions League campaign when they face Roma at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.