Bullish Manuel Pellegrini urges Manchester City to deliver

Barcelona (2) v Man City (1) Tonight: Camp Nuo, 7.45pm TV: RTE Two, Sky Sports 5

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini last night called on his team to deliver in Barcelona as he again asserted confidence in his position.

Pellegrini has become noticeably more bullish in recent weeks as speculation over his future has increased.

The Chilean is under considerable scrutiny with his side faltering in their Premier League title defence and needing to overturn a deficit in Barcelona to salvage their Champions League dreams.

City go to the Camp Nou tonight for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie trailing 2-1 after defeat to the Catalan giants at the Etihad Stadium three weeks ago.

Pellegrini was asked about his future as he met media on the eve of the match but he brushed off the questions and tried to rouse his players.

The 61-year-old said: “First of all I respect all opinions but I don’t think my seat is in danger. But even if it was I wouldn’t do anything differently, I would do the same thing and focus and concentrate on the game.”

Pellegrini was joined at the pre-match press conference by key midfielder and former Barcelona player Yaya Toure, who missed the first leg through suspension.

Toure was also asked about Pellegrini’s future but chose to focus on the collective responsibility of everyone involved in the team.

“I think football is like that,” said Toure, when asked about the rumours concerning Pellegrini.

“We all know what we have to do, the owners have spent a lot of money to make this one of the top clubs in Europe. We have had some difficulties but we are working hard.”

Pellegrini was asked some awkward questions by the Catalan press at a busy press conference in the team’s beachside hotel.

But he took them all in his stride and even laughed at one convoluted query about whether he felt Barcelona were better because they responded more to Luis Enrique than City do to him.

“You don’t know the kind of confidence my players have in me,” said Pellegrini, who oversaw two trophy successes last season.

“You could have asked the question the other way round if we were talking two months ago. All teams go through different moments and we will try to do our best with dedication and hard work.”

City were beaten by Barca at the same stage last season, losing both legs in a 4-1 aggregate defeat. City had a player sent off in both those matches, as they did when the sides met last month.

Pellegrini said: “We are not going to play against an easy team but I’m sure that if the three ties we played before were 11 v 11 it could have been different. We are going to have bad moments during the game but we have a team that can do its best in this type of game.”

For their part, Barcelona have sent an ominous warning to the reigning English champions, with playmaker Andres Iniesta saying they will be going all out to finish the job in emphatic fashion.

“We will have to go out there and play in a very comprehensive manner. We need to have lots of ball possession so they suffer, so they have to follow the ball.”

Barca boss Luis Enrique played down the significance of their recent form against City and stressed that they will have to be on form if they are to extend the hoodoo to four matches.

The 44-year-old former Barcelona and Real Madrid player said: “What happened last season has no repercussions. This season we have had a good first leg but with only one game you won’t go through to the next round.

“We know we have to have a very good second leg to be capable of getting the better of our rival again.”