Manchester City boss Pellegrini pleased to avoid Barcelona

Manuel Pellegrini expressed his relief that Manchester City avoided holders Barcelona in Friday’s Champions League draw.

City were paired with Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight having eased past Dynamo Kiev in the previous round.

Although Pellegrini acknowledged that PSG, led by star forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, will be tough opposition, he failed to hide his relief that City had not drawn Barca, who knocked Pellegrini’s men out of the competition in the past two seasons.

“In my opinion, Barcelona are the team that can make the difference but all the other teams are the same,” the City manager told a news conference on Friday.

“You never know what represents an easy draw when you’re with the eight best teams on the continent. Maybe one team has less of a name than another but they’re at this stage so they deserve to be there because they beat other teams.”

Pellegrini was also pleased the second leg will be staged at City’s Etihad Stadium.

“It’s better to be away first – I always prefer to finish at home so you know what you must do in your home stadium,” he added.