Pellegrini, who returns to the Santiago Bernabeu for City’s Champions League semifinal second leg against Madrid on Wednesday, was in charge for just one season at the Spanish club before being sacked by president Florentino Perez.
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After another disappointing season in the Premier League – City are fighting to finish fourth – it would be a remarkable climax to Manuel Pellegrini’s three-year reign even to reach the final, never mind win it.
“I didn’t expect that performance, especially in defence”, he said. We’ll analyse after the game [if anyone earned the right to play Wednesday].
But in this case we had to prioritise Wednesday’s game [against Real Madrid].
“Maybe if we played on Saturday we could have another option for this game but playing with too many players that are not playing often is hard”.
Pellegrini wants to see the same level of commitment that saw his side win their league games ahead of both quarter-final legs against Paris Saint-Germain and then thrash Stoke last weekend.
Sadio Mane of Southampton (10) celebrates as he scores his second goal and his team’s third during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Manchester City at St Mary’s Stadium on May 1, 2016 in Southampton, England.
While Mane was a fully deserved victor of the Man of the Match award, he was pushed close by City’s Kelechi Iheanacho who outlined his outstanding potential with a pair of quality finishes.
The fact that at least one of them will start alongside Vincent Kompany against an attacking Real Madrid side should worry a lot of City fans.
They may now be involved in a highly intense Champions League semi-final, but Manchester City still have work to do domestically and their latest assignment is a tricky encounter away to Southampton.
Pellegrini had criticised Premier League bosses in advance of the Southampton trip, claiming the match should have been rearranged to hand his side more time to prepare to take on Real. I always asked of them the same work, the same concepts, no matter what people on the outside said.
The Saints will hope to capitalise on the distraction and continue their good run of form, where they have only lost once in their last seven league games. “Kelechi today scored two goals and is doing well in all the games but for the moment I am not thinking about that”. “It is not a big blow, because we have played now and we need to focus on the next game against Madrid”, Iheanacho said. Indeed, of those players who began here, only Joe Hart, Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi are likely to keep their place at the Bernabeu.
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“I hope Sadio can be more consistent in future, but of course he’s still a young player and sometimes that’s a natural part of progress”.
