Manchester City have not lost a European home game for five years, while Bayern have enjoyed success on their two trips to England last season. PHOTO: AFP
City have been eliminated from the Champions League at the group phase in the past two seasons and one of the reasons why Pellegrini was selected to succeed Roberto Mancini was his track record at the continental level.
Real Madrid went out in the last 16 under Pellegrini’s stewardship in 2010, but he steered modest Villarreal to the semi-finals in 2006 and led Malaga to the quarter-finals last season.
In all-conquering German and European champions Bayern, Pellegrini could not have asked for a more demanding first European home fixture with City.
However, having worked in Spain for the duration of Bayern coach Pep Guardiola’s spectacular four-year tenure at Barcelona, the 60-year-old Chilean believes he knows how to get the better of him.
“It is very difficult at this moment to improve with Bayern because they won the last three competitions, but he (Guardiola) will find a way because he is a very good manager,” said Pellegrini.
“He knows the way we play, so he will try different things. But we know things about Guardiola, too. I lived in Spain nine years so I know exactly the way Guardiola plays.”
Both teams opened their Group D campaigns with 3-0 victories, Bayern overwhelming CSKA Moscow at the Allianz Arena and City scoring three second-half goals away to Czech champions Viktoria Pilsen.
Pellegrini will hope to recall David Silva and Sergio Aguero after both players missed the trip to Villa Park through injury.
Giggs on brink of Champions League record
Manchester United’s poor start to the season has left the club reeling and new boss David Moyes under scrutiny but Ryan Giggs will offer a reassuring presence when he reports for Champions League duty in Ukraine this week.
Should Moyes turn to the evergreen midfielder tonight against Shakhtar Donetsk, Giggs will register a record 145th appearance in Europe’s premier competition (including qualifiers), moving him ahead of former Real Madrid striker Raul in the appearance list.
Giggs, who won 13 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues under former manager Alex Ferguson, is now part of Moyes’s coaching staff but has plenty to offer on the pitch.
“Really? Wow. I didn’t know that,” was Giggs’s reaction in an interview on the club’s website when told of the milestone.
“It’s a great competition and I’ve been lucky enough to win it twice and play a lot of memorable matches.
“There have been so many great players to have graced the tournament and Raul is up there as one of the very best — he has a great goal-scoring record and he’s won it three times.
“If I do pass him it will be a great source of pride for me.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2013.
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