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| Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini will play host to Xi Jinping and Sevilla this week |
MANCHESTER CITY will play host to the president of China, Xi Jinping, on Friday as he drops in at The Etihad as part of a historic trip to Britain.
Manuel Pellegrini must hope it is the only time the red carpet is rolled out to foreign visitors this week.
The City manager appeared irritable yesterday, especially prickly when poked and prodded about his side's continued inability to turn the Etihad into a fortress when the focus shifts from Premier League to Champions League.
Sevilla are the latest team seeking to leave the arena with something to show for their endeavour and Pellegrini's record of three wins against Europe's elite in nine home games offers them plenty of encouragement.
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| President of China Xi Jinping will be at the Etihad as part of his trip to Britain on Friday |
Last month's defeat to Juventus before a crowd that rarely whips up a frenzied atmosphere on European nights has maintained the pattern and not only complicates progress from Group D, but threatens to have far-reaching repercussions.
Had City been more assured at The Etihad in each of the last two seasons, they would have given themselves a better chance of topping the standings and thus avoiding Barcelona, who have accounted for their demise at the last 16 stage in consecutive campaigns.
So while Pellegrini gathered his squad together at training yesterday ostensibly to offer a pep-talk about Sevilla's strengths, he must also have felt inclined to spell out some home truths about tactical discipline and ruthlessness even if he was reluctant to discuss matters in public.
"I don't know exactly the statistics, but if they are the numbers then, of course, we must improve," said Pellegrini, whose wins came against Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen. "But we are thinking about the present and this one game, not what has happened in the past.
"We didn't play well against Bayern Munich in the first season I was here, but after that we beat them here. We also won 15 points in the first season.
"I hope we are just thinking about qualifying from the group and not what has happened in the past with different moments, different teams and different seasons. It is difficult to compare what happened two seasons ago.
"We will play against a difficult team and we hope we can win. We always feel that the fans are behind the team and they support us a lot. I don't think the atmosphere is lower than we need."
When Pellegrini was pushed on why the current trend will change against Sevilla, who have made an indifferent start to the La Liga season but will be dangerous rivals, he did little to conceal his disdain at a reasoned line of questioning.
"I just answered the same question," he said tetchily. "I don't want to talk about home records. I know that we have to win in the Champions League against a difficult team.
"All the other things are just statistics and history which will not help us win or lose. I cannot talk about that."
Vincent Kompany, a substitute against Bournemouth at the weekend, should return in defence, while Raheem Sterling will hope to maintain the form that saw him plunder a hat-trick on Saturday.
Sterling's agent, Aidy Ward, said yesterday the 20-year-old "should still be at Liverpool" as he hit out at former Anfield manager Brendan Rodgers' handling of the youngster.
Pellegrini was the beneficiary and is happy to have signed Sterling for £49m in the summer.
"He has a lot of time to improve and the best way to improve is to play Champions League and be an important player in each game," he said.
Helping City finally enjoy some home comforts should be Sterling's priority.
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