Manuel Pellegrini dismissed Jose Mourinho's claim there is a campaign against Chelsea as the Manchester City manager prepared to take the champions to Stamford Bridge for this evening's pivotal Premier League match.
The Portuguese, who will be without the suspended Diego Costa, cancelled his Friday press conference over his ongoing issue with the media and other managers, who he perceives to be influencing match officials.
Mourinho previously did not attend a briefing ahead of playing Newcastle United earlier this month, instead sending his assistant Steve Holland after being charged by the English Football Association for stating there was a "clear campaign" against Chelsea, following the 1-1 draw at Southampton in December, for which he was fined £25,000 this week.
All is fair
When asked about this, Pellegrini said: “I hope that in the Premier League they don’t have a campaign against anyone. I hope all is fair and the referee makes mistakes for all the teams exactly the same, that the FA make the fixtures in a fair way and the punishments.
“For my way of thinking, I think it is the best league in the world and I don’t think it has any strange things. Because [if that’s the case] then you are not competing [fairly]. After that, if you win the title, it’s not an important title, because it is all arranged.”
Pellegrini believes Costa should change his on-field behaviour following his three-match suspension for stamping on Liverpool's Emre Can in Tuesday's League Cup semi-final win.
Pellegrini said: “[Costa] is a great player; a very important player. He has his character, it is not an easy character but I hope for him that this punishment, I am not trying to take advantage for the game [tonight], I think it will be a good thing for him to change in the future because he doesn’t need to do it in that way, because he is a very good player, a top player.
“I don’t know Diego Costa; I know of him from Spain. For me, he’s a very good player. But maybe this will be good for him for the future.”
The Chilean is clear that City are going to west London for victory. “I always play to win the game. I think if you want to draw, I think normally you lose,” he said. “I expect a very good Chelsea – a good defensive team who are very good at counter-attacks.”
Pellegrini also aimed a barb at Chelsea when defending last week’s trip to Abu Dhabi. City arrived back from the warm-weather break in the emirate less than 24 hours before losing to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup last weekend. Yet after Mourinho’s side were also knocked out of the competition, Pellegrini said: “About last week, another club that didn’t travel to Abu Dhabi also lost in the FA Cup. It was not the reason we lost. This week was a normal week and we worked well.”
Chelsea hope to confirm Juan Cuadrado’s arrival from Fiorentina, subject to the player passing a medical and gaining international clearance, for an initial fee of around £23.3 million (€31 million) over the weekend.
Cuadrado will fly to London on Saturday morning to undergo medical tests. Mohamed Salah is expected to move to the Italian club on loan, with Chelsea meeting his wages, though the bulk of the transfer fee for the Colombian will effectively be met by André Schürrle’s imminent departure for Wolfsburg. Guardian Service
