Pellegrini: Playing for a draw at Sevilla would be a risk

Manchester City could seal qualification from
Champions League Group D with a win in Sevilla and
Manuel Pellegrini will not play for a draw.

Manuel Pellegrini suggested that he will not deviate from an
attacking approach as his Manchester City side chase a third
consecutive Champions League win at Sevilla.

City have come from behind to win each of their last two Group
D matches 2-1 in injury time against Borussia
Monchengladbach and the Liga side.

The patchy nature of both performances, during which the
Premier League leaders displayed familiar frailties without the
ball on the European stage, increased calls for City to take a
more pragmatic Champions League approach.

Midfielder Fernandinho and defender Vincent Kompany both
praised the defensive solidity on show during the recent 0-0
derby draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford but
Pellegrini refuted the idea of playing for a draw at the Estadio
Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where victory combined with a win for
Juventus in Monchengladbach would see his team through to
the knockout stages with two games to spare.

"I think it's very important for the team to try to win because,
depending on what happens in the other game, we could be in
the next stage," he told a pre-match media conference
"It's a benefit to qualify as soon as you can – it's not easy to do
it two games before the end. If we do it, in the same way you
must qualify, you must fight to qualify in first place.

"This team is not prepared to try to draw – we won't start the
game and think it's a good point.

"If you start thinking a draw is a good result, you'll normally
lose."

City's last-16 defeats to Barcelona in each of the past two
seasons are their best returns at this level and Pellegrini
believes criticism of these performances have fired his team's
late heroics this term.

Currently injured striker Sergio Aguero head his nerve from the
penalty spot at the death against Gladbach, while club-record
signing Kevin De Bruyne was the hero when Sevilla travelled to
Manchester last time out.

"Maybe when you read so much criticism when you don't win,
when you win, especially when behind, fighting to the end with
so many players inured – of course that gives you trust on what
you can do as a team," Pellegrini added. "It demonstrates
character and spirit.

"As a team, we are in a very strong moment and I hope we can
improve further when we recover important players from injury."