Alvaro Negredo scored a hat-trick and Sergio Aguero added two goals to fire Manchester City into the Champions League knockout stage for the first time with a commanding 5-2 home win over CSKA Moscow. PHOTO: REUTERS
Having demolished Norwich City 7-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, City have now scored 12 goals in their last two matches.
Alvaro Negredo led the charge against CSKA on Tuesday with a hat-trick, while Sergio Aguero claimed a brace as City qualified for the knockout rounds after successive group-stage exits in 2011 and 2012.
Asked if City could beat any team in the competition, Pellegrini replied: “I think so. But at this level, every team can beat us also.
“There are the most important teams in Europe, the most important teams in Spain, in Italy, in France. I think we have a strong squad and we will see where we can go in this Champions League.”
Meanwhile, holders Bayern Munich also became one of the first teams to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Bayern made heavy weather of beating Viktoria Pilsen 1-0, as coach Pep Guardiola saying he was satisfied despite the unconvincing display exemplified by yet another poor first-half performance.
“We have taken all the points we could in the four games, which shows how strong we are,” said Guardiola.
Ancelotti gives Juve last-16 boost
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti believes Juventus will overcome the threat of Group B rivals FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray to qualify with the Spaniards for the last-16.
The Italian champions are still without a win after four games but produced arguably their best performance of this season’s competition to hold the Spanish giants to a 2-2 draw in Turin.
Although Juve rode their luck for the remainder, Ancelotti, who spent a largely unsuccessful two seasons in Turin before a far more successful spell at AC Milan, believes Juve have the clout to qualify for the last 16.
“Juventus have a solid team and a strong squad with top talent, I think in the end they will qualify from the group with us,” said Ancelotti, who gave special mentions to several Juve players.
In another match, Robin van Persie missed a second-half penalty as Manchester United edged towards the Champions League last-16 with a 0-0 draw away to Real Sociedad.
However, the 0-0 draw between Shakhtar Donetsk and Bayer Leverkusen means United continue to lead the Germans by a point with the two sides set to meet in Leverkusen in three weeks time.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2013.
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