Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City 'will win the Champions League'

City have never gone beyond the last-16

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes his side will win the Champions League soon.

Pellegrini, who saw City surprisingly lose 4-1 away at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, says his side have been unlucky to draw Barcelona in each of the last two campaigns - City are yet to progress beyond the last-16 despite all of their spending.

The Chilean previously guided Villarreal to the semi-finals and Malaga to the quarter-final of the competition, and thinks City will go far if the draw is slightly kinder to them than it has been.

"We have played Barcelona in the last two years and if we had played Barcelona at Villarreal or Malaga then maybe we wouldn't have gone so far," he said.

"This is a very young team compared with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Juventus. We are younger than the teams who normally win the Champions League over the last 10 years.

"Our team has only arrived in the last few years and we are improving every season.

"That will continue and I am absolutely sure that we will arrive to be an important team that wins the Champions League."

City also lost their opening match of the group stage at home to Juventus and travel to Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday.

"Being a strong team in Europe must be our target but not at the expense of the Premier League," added Pellegrini, who went a point behind rivals Manchester United.

"One fake game in the Champions League and you can be out, while the Premier League is all about the work you do over the entire year.

"We must not concentrate on the one thing. It must be a target - but not an obsession. One day, though, we are going to be a strong team like Barcelona are today."