Manchester City confident to top in the Group

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has targeted only a victory when his team take on Roma in a crucial Champions League group match.

This match is likely to decide the second placed team in the group, as it is widely expected that CSKA Moscow will suffer a defeat in their group match against Bayern Munich. Three teams can realistically expect to reach the last 16 of the competition, but it is far more important for Pellegrini given the amount of money he has spent. City have underachieved in the Champions League ever since they came into the competition a few years ago.

The 3-2 win over Bayern Munich in the previous round has given them a great opportunity to think about reaching the last 16. The club has not when asked the last 16 stage in its relatively short Champions League history. Roma will welcome City for this crucial match in the Italian capital. They managed a 1-1 draw when they travelled to the Etihad stadium in the reverse fixture. City come on the high reducing the deficit at the top of the Premier League to just three points. Since the win against Bayern Munich, the team has been playing with a lot of confidence. However, Pellegrini will be without star striker Sergio Aguero.

“We will not change, we will always be an offensive team. We always try to go for the game from the beginning and we will do the same against Roma. The thing is that Roma are in a similar position. They know if they draw 1-1 and Bayern beat CSKA then the result favours us. We would go through in that situation, so Roma really need a win too. If it is 0-0 [and Bayern win] that puts Roma in a better position than us,” said Pellegrini.