Manuel Pellegrini: Liverpool lashing consigned to history

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini insists Saturday’s mauling by Liverpool has been banished to history.

Title favourites City were knocked off the top of the Premier League when they were thrashed 4-1 by the Merseysiders and Pellegrini wants a reaction against Juventus tonight.

City are in Turin for their penultimate Champions League Group D game and, though they have qualified for the last 16, they want to secure top spot.

Pellegrini said: “I think that we finished with the game — that very bad game that we played on Saturday — on Sunday morning.

“This is a different competition and a different game. We are thinking of playing here against Juventus at home and trying to beat them.

“It was a strange and fake game that we played, and that is the past. It is more important to think about the future. I hope we will return to our normal performance.”

Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio is wary of a City backlash.

The Italy international said: “We know it is not going to be easy. We are playing a team that has suffered a very heavy defeat in the Premier League. When these things happen and they come to the next match, in the Champions League in this case, they probably want a backlash and want to react, and that is in addition to all the skills and qualities of the Manchester City players, that are also very important.”

City have won their last three matches in the Champions League to secure their place in the knockout stages with two games to spare. The first two results in that sequence came courtesy of last-gasp winners, but Pellegrini’s men were highly impressive in their last outing away at Sevilla.

The manager hopes that has provided a blueprint, as City look to progress beyond the last 16 for the first time and transfer some of their domestic dominance to the European stage.

The Chilean said: “I think first of all we need to play in Europe in the same way we did against Sevilla.

“We have a lot of experience now, better than the other years. We need a performance in these games.”

City will again be without influential captain Vincent Kompany due to a calf injury and his fellow centre-back Eliaquim Mangala is also unavailable, due to an unspecified problem.

With playmaker David Silva and striker Wilfried Bony still not ready to return from ankle and hamstring injuries, and Pablo Zabaleta and Samir Nasri sidelined, City are short of senior players.

Pellegrini accepts that makes for a “difficult situation”, but is still determined to put in a strong performance.

City lead the Italians by a point and will secure first place with a win. Juventus will guarantee their progress with a victory, but a defeat could even be sufficient if Sevilla do not beat Borussia Monchengladbach.

Pellegrini said: “We have played already against Juventus. It was a very close game, we did not deserve to lose.

“They are not in their best moment here now in domestic football, but I am sure we will find a team who wants to qualify first in the group. I hope they find a Manchester City team who will fight for the game.”