Manchester, Sep 28 (IANS) Manchester City football club manager Manuel Pellegrini said that his club will emerge winners of the Champions League despite their recent struggles in Europe.

City was eliminated in the last 16 stage in the past two seasons, while they were sent packing in the group stages in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

But Pellegrini, who guided Villarreal to the semi-finals and Malaga to the last eight prior to taking over at the Etihad, was confident that City will eventually become European powerhouses, goal.com reported on Sunday.

“This is a very young team compared with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Juventus. We are younger than the teams who normally win the Champions League over the last 10 years,” Pellegrini said.

“Our team has only arrived in the last few years and we are improving every season. That will continue and I am absolutely sure that we will arrive to be an important team that wins the Champions League,” he said.

City, who were thrashed 4-1 by Tottenham on Saturday as they gave up top spot to rivals Manchester United in the Premier League, visit Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League on Wednesday but Pellegrini maintains that his side will not lose focus on their domestic ambitions as they bid to achieve European success.

“Being a strong team in Europe must be our target but not at the expense of the Premier League,” he said.

“One fake game in the Champions League and you can be out, while the Premier League is all about the work you do over the entire year,” the manager said.

City opened their 2015-16 Champions League campaign with a 2-1 loss to Juventus.