Manuel Pellegrini: I’m not under any pressure

Man City v Leicester City

City face an uphill battle to turn around their Champions League last-16 tie at the Nou Camp while they now trail Premier Leaders Chelsea by five points having played a game more.

Pellegrini was accused of tactical naivety following damaging 2-1 defeats to Barcelona and Liverpool, having sent out his team in his default 4-4-2 system and seen them easily undone.

The faltering on two fronts has also fuelled speculation linking the likes of Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone and Carlo Ancelotti with his position, but Pellegrini claims he is not feeling the heat.

The 61-year-old, speaking at a press conference to preview tonight’s clash with Leicester, said: “I never have any pressure to win an amount of titles and to win a title every year if I want to continue here. I don’t feel any pressure, especially from the media.

“I feel pressure only when I don’t see my team playing the way I want it to do.”

City will look to get back to winning ways as they host Premier League bottom side Leicester.

Pellegrini said: “I hope that we can recover to be a consistent team during the whole game. I am sure if we can do it, we are going to win. But if we think that we are going to win against Leicester because they are bottom of the table, that would be a very bad decision.”