Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has played down the significance of Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash with Leicester.
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Claudio Ranieri’s outsiders are now starting to be regarded as genuine title contenders and their meeting with City is being eagerly anticipated, but Pellegrini points out it is not a decisive match.
“It’s not the biggest game of the season so far – we can win or lose this game and the Premier League will not end here”, added the Chilean, whose side are still in all four competitions they entered. I tell my players we make 39 points in the first half (of the season) so I want 40 points from the second half – one more. There are still a lot of points.
You would like to think that City have the capabilities to see off Leicester at home, but anything could happen when the league leaders come to town.
“But I will be focusing on the team until my final day here, giving my best to the very last minute”.
They also strongly believe the FA needs to look again at how the season is structured if they are to fully support successful English teams in the future.
And Pellegrini is in no doubt they have the strength to win the title.
“With Pep, with the multi-million pound outlay they’ve made and will spend with him, I expect the pressure to be higher for them”.
“Maybe at the beginning Leicester were a surprise but now it is not a surprise”.
Meanwhile, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has urged his players to work hard at making history rather than waste time talking about it.
Ranieri’s side have provided one of the most captivating stories in the Premier League era with their fairytale rise, but few outside the King Power Stadium believed Leicester would still be in the thick of the title race at this late stage of the campaign.
“We have to travel to Ukraine on Monday, so I don’t see any reason why we can’t play on the Saturday”.
Pellegrini says he will field a team of youngsters if the date of the fixture is fixed by the FA on Sunday, February 21.
That might also have created an issue with Chelsea, who have their own Champions League game at Paris St Germain the previous Tuesday.
“It’s very easy. We have to play Champions League on Wednesday”.
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“My duty is to do for this team what I think is best and if we play on Sunday I think it’s better not to play with the professional players”. “I don’t think we can keep taking about a surprise and I don’t think we can keep thinking Leicester won’t be involved in the title until the end. I was so bored last time that I tried to make you a little bit more amused!”
