Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini faces Uefa charge over tirade after Champions League defeat to Barcelona

The Chilean hit out at the referee, claiming the Swedish official was not impartial

Manuel Pellegrini said Jonas Eriksson should not have been referee on Tuesday because he was Swedish (Reuters)

The Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, will be charged this morning by Uefa for improper conduct over his attack on Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson in the aftermath of Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League.

Pellegrini will be charged under article 11 of Uefa regulations which covers coaches' and officials' conduct during Champions League games; the same rule that Jose Mourinho was charged under following another tirade against Barcelona in 2011.

Uefa's disciplinary department confirmed that it had opened an investigation into Pellegrini's comments after the defeat to Barcelona in which Martin Demichelis was dismissed early in the second half. The Chilean launched a remarkably personal attack on the Swedish referee, claiming that he "was not impartial", that it was "not a good idea" to put a Swede in charge of the game, and that Eriksson was making amends for a previous game in which his decisions had gone against Barça.

Because the vast majority of the actionable comments were made in front of the cameras during Pellegrini's post-match press conference at the Etihad Stadium, there has been no delay in the process of acquiring evidence from Uefa's point of view. In article 11 of Uefa's disciplinary law, it refers back to the "principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship" laid out in article 5 of the same document.

The Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny will escape any further punishment for his rude gesture made after his dismissal during Wednesday's defeat to Bayern Munich at the Emirates. He made the gesture as he approached the tunnel. However, it has not been included in referee Nicola Rizzoli's match report.