Pellegrini slams Chelsea: Man City players never surround referees

Manuel Pellegrini insists that Manchester City players will "never surround the referee" after Chelsea were widely condemned for their behaviour during their Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.

The French champions eliminated Jose Mourinho’s side on away goals after a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in midweek, despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s first-half sending off.

Ten Chelsea players immediately crowded around the official following the Swede’s tackle on Oscar to pressurise him into sending the PSG star off, and Pellegrini says that his squad would never act in such a way.

"You will never see a City player surround the referee," Pellegrini said. "Maybe you can discuss with the referee about a decision, but just one moment in the game.

"But I don’t think that’s the way this team is prepared to win. You must analyse which is the correct way and which is not the correct way.

"Every time the referee has a decision you have all the players on top of him and it’s impossible for the referee to work."

When asked if he was referring solely to Chelsea, Pellegrini added: "I’m talking about a lot of things that happen in different games, with different teams, but they always work in trying to pressure the referee in every decision, so the referee always has problems.

"All the managers prepare their players to win, but there are different styles of winning.

"Maybe when you are winning the style doesn’t matter. When you don’t win and then start to criticise, I can’t accept that."