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Can Manchester City win the Champions League?

Manuel Pellegrini’s response was as emphatic any we’ve heard from from the Chilean in three seasons at the Etihad.

"Of course!"

And he doesn’t care if he comes face-to-face with Pep Guardiola in the semi finals.

The outgoing City manager had every right to be in a bullish mood after seeing his side overcome a Paris St Germain team packed with world class players.

Kevin de Bruyne’s 76th-minute strike settled the match and the tie - earning City a 1-0 win on the night and a 3-2 aggregate victory.

The Etihad erupted at the final whistle - as City progressed to the semi finals for the first time in their history.

And asked if his side could go all the way, Pellegrini said: “Of course - this season, next season.

Watch: David Ginola gets stuck into his former side as PSG bow out of the UEFA Champions League

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“If you are in the semi final you know that you have to play against a very big team of Europe. But playing in the way we did tonight - we played better than Paris St Germain, which a very strong team with very good players.

“We have a lot of trust that we can play against anyone in the way we played tonight.”

City’s title challenge has nose-dived since the announcement that Guardiola will replace Pellegrini in the summer - but it is clear he believes he can become the first man to lead the club to the summit of European football.

“For me it is very important to be in the semi final because my job to go further in both domestic games and international games,” he said. “We were very unlucky in the last two seasons. We played against Barcelona so that is why we can’t continue.

“But we improve, we qualified by winning the group and after that by having a very good performance against Dynamo and tonight having a very good performance.”

He added: “One of the targets of this club is to try to improve every year.

“I know that we receive a lot of criticism for different reasons, but every year we are improving.

“It is not easy because we have very strong teams in Europe, but I am sure that the target of this club is to win the Champions League.”

City could face Guardiola’s Bayern Munich when the draw is made on Friday - but Pellegrini insists he doesn’t care who he faces.

“It will be exactly the same,” he said. “It is always a difficult game against Bayern Munich or Barcelona or Real Madrid.”