Manuel Pellegrini Plays Down Talk Of Meeting Pep Guardiola’s Bayern

Source: thewillnigeria.com

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has shrugged off the significance of a potential Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.

The German side are managed by Pep Guardiola, who will replace Pellegrini at City next season.

Asked what a tie with Guardiola would mean, Pellegrini replied: “For me, exactly the same. It doesn’t matter.”

City beat Paris St-Germain to reach the last four, while Bayern lead Benfica 1-0 in their quarter-final.

Real Madrid are also through to the semi-finals, with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid vying for the other spot.

“It will always be a difficult team,” Pellegrini, 62, added. “Bayern Munich, if they win, Barcelona or Real Madrid.”

The draw for the semi-finals takes place on Friday.

City reached the last four of the Champions League for the first time after Tuesday’s 1-0 second-leg win sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory over French champions Paris St-Germain.

Sergio Aguero missed a penalty for City before Kevin de Bruyne got a 76th-minute winner for the hosts.

Real Madrid secured their spot after Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to overturn Wolfsburg’s 2-0 lead from the first leg.

In Wednesday’s quarter-finals, Bayern face Benfica in Portugal and last season’s champions Barcelona travel to Atletico Madrid looking to protect their 2-1 advantage.

City have reached the last 16 twice and failed to progress beyond the group stages twice in their past four Champions League campaigns.

“It’s an amazing night for us,” said City goalkeeper Joe Hart, the only player in Tuesday’s squad who joined City before the 2008 takeover by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour.

“We’ve worked hard in this competition. I’ve been here since the start of this Champions League run and we did struggle to start with, but we started to piece together results and this speaks volumes.”

Goalscorer De Bruyne added: “Everybody has talked about the Champions League and to be in the semi-finals is a great achievement.

“But it is not done yet. We are looking forward to the semis. It is only two games away from the final. We will try to do everything to reach the final.”

PSG coach Laurent Blanc praised City’s performance.

“City are a good team, not a particularly spectacular team, but they are efficient and they get the job done,” the former Manchester United defender said.

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