Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini accepted that Sergio Aguero’s penalty miss effectively ended the last-16 tie against Barcelona at the Camp Nou which puts huge pressure on the Chilean.
Man City were awarded a penalty with 15 minutes to go and had their top scorer converted it, Barcelona would’ve endured a nervy finish as one more goal from the Premier League champions would have forced extra-time.
Given his outstanding displays this season and the goal he scored in the first leg, Aguero would have been expected to put the spot-kick away and launch a spirited fight-back, but it wasn’t to be.
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“I think we lost against a better team, without doubt,” Pellegrini said post match (via the Mirror).
“Messi is very difficult to contain.
“Maybe we didn’t play so well in the first-half, but we improved in the second and took risks.
“We needed to score two goals and we thought it might happen had we scored the penalty. That was a very important moment because we still had 15 minutes more to play.”
The Champions League exit, and what has now become a fight for the top four, has left Pellegrini with a mountain to climb in terms of saving his job. Man City may end the season trophy-less and the last time that happened, the manager was relieved from his duties.
Check the decisive moment below: