Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is confident he will keep his job, despite exiting the Champions League to Barcelona on Tuesday evening which follows a bad run of form in the Premier League.
City were unable to break down Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Tuesday in a game that saw Lionel Messi control for the most part and the 3-1 aggregate defeat means they will not progress to the quarter-final stage of the competition.
However, Pellegrini does not believe the exit is a failure and that his side have improved in European competition.
“I don’t see it as a failure, a disappointment obviously, but the last couple of years we have improved in Europe and reached the last-16,” the Chilean is quoted as saying by the Daily Star.
“Had we met another team than Barca we might have gone through. And the financial restrictions placed on us prevented us from signing some of the players we wanted last summer.”
The Chilean boss then went on to discuss recent claims that he could be set for the sack after the result and a drop in domestic form, but he remained confident that he would be in charge for the remainder of his current contract, due to expire next summer.
“It is not the right time to analyse where we need to improve. We must do that at the end of the season. But I’m not concerned about my job. We are still second in the Premier League and must pick ourselves up for the final nine games of the season.”