Pellegrini: "We Didn't Play Well"

Manchester City qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League for the first time tonight, with a 4-2 victory at the Etihad over Czech minnows, Viktoria Plzen. Despite this achievement, Man City manager, Manuel Pellegrini spoke of his disappointment at his side's performance during his post match interview, stating that his side did not perform:

"We didn't play well tonight, and we made it difficult for ourselves. Viktoria Plzen played very well, and created a lot of chances. In the Premier League and Champions League our goalkeeper does not normally have as much work to do as Joe Hart did tonight."

When asked what he thought of Joe Hart's performance, Pellegrini averred that he believed the underfire goalkeeper played well tonight, but refused to comment on his chances of starting the the Premier League this weekend:

"I thought Joe [Hart] had a good game tonight... it is the Champions League which we are concentrating on tonight, not the Premier League, but we will see."

With qualification for the knockout stages confirmed, the new Manchester City manager stated that it is difficult to know how his side will perform in the knockout stages, because it boils down the draw after Christmas:

"We are in the same position as all the other teams. I think we can begin to make predictions after the draw in December, but not before then, because there is the possibilty that we could play one of the Spanish teams or PSG in the round of 16.