FOUR GET IT Pell: Quad out of the question
MANUEL PELLEGRINI says Manchester City have no hope of an historic quadruple.
City are the only team still in with a chance of becoming the first to land all four trophies in the same season.
They travel to Everton tonight in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final looking to keep the dream alive. But Pellegrini says the achievement is impossible due to the size of the task and amount of games involved.
He said: “It is impossible because you have one game postponed, game number 36, and there is no midweek to play it before you finish the Premier League.
“It’s a lot of games. If you ask me, I always prefer to play in all the competitions. “But I am worried about the FA Cup. After the first rounds you start having to postpone your Premier League games to continue in the FA Cup. “I am not sure if you can continue in all the competitions.
“If you play the semi-final of the FA Cup and you are in the semi-final of the Champions League, then you don’t have time to play one of the games.
“You don’t have any free midweeks because you play Wednesday, then FA Cup, then game number 37 of the Premier League, then the other semi-final of the Champions League, then game 38 of the Premier League.
“You don’t have time to rearrange game 36. It’s difficult to arrive at the semi-final of the Champions League and also the FA Cup.”
City will face the Toffees three times in their next six games, with a Premier League fixture next Wednesday sandwiched between the two legs of their League Cup semi-final.
Pellegrini has ordered City not to lose at Goodison tonight and wants his stars to treat it like a Champions League away game.
He added: “The mentality of the players is the same. Of course, they want to kill teams off from the first minute, but sometimes the game doesn’t allow you to do it.
“It’s strange to play against the same team on three Wednesdays in January in different competitions, especially when you play away and then two at home. A game of 180 minutes, it’s a different game.
“It’s not the same as the Premier League, when you must win. It’s strange that we have to win our points here and we will try not to lose at Goodison Park.
“It’s a test, like a Champions League game. Maybe it’s different because in the Champions League it’s important to score away.
“Here it is slightly different because there is extra-time, but it’s a similar test to the Champions League.”
Pellegrini has been boosted by the return to full fitness of striker Sergio Aguero, who netted a late winner to sink Watford at Vicarage Road last Saturday.
And the City boss is now hoping the Argentinian will go on a run, saying: “That would be very good for the team.
“He’s can make a difference in three or four ways. I said after the last game that I’d seen him playing better than two games ago.
“I know him well and I’m sure he’ll be an important player in the second part of the season.”