Bayern Munich 2 Manchester City 3: Manuel Pellegrini did not realise City needed one more goal to top Group D - so left Sergio Aguero on the bench
Chilean seemed confused with the permutations in post-match interview
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Your support makes all the difference.Does Manuel Pellegrini understand the rules of the Champions League?
With Manchester City winning 3-2 at Bayern Munich after an heroic fightback from two goals down, Pellegrini had 28 minutes to bring on the club's top scorer this season, Sergio Aguero. Instead he replaced David Silva with Alvaro Negredo after 73 minutes and Edin Dzeko with defensive midfielder Jack Rodwell with two minutes remaining.
One more goal would have been enough to secure the two-goal margin needed for City to top the group at Bayern's expense, but Pellegrini, although, it could be a simple case of still learning the English language, appeared to think City required five goals, not four.
When asked by Sky Sports after the match if he was tempted to bring on his best striker with nearly 30 minutes remaining, Pellegrini replied: "I was tempted if we scored the fourth goal of course. That's why I sent Aguero to warm up."
When talking about the substitution of Silva at a time when City only needed one goal to achieve the two-goal winning margin they required to finish top, Pellegrini, who reached the semi-final of the competition with Villarreal in 2006, said:
"[But] to score two goals in those circumstances would be difficult and Silva has to play no more than 70 minutes"
One more goal, City's fourth, could have given them the 4-2 scoreline they needed to finish as Group D winners, but Pellegrini did say later in the interview that finishing top was not the most important thing for his team.
Pellegrini will see if this is the case when the draw for the Last 16 is made on Monday.
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