Following the controversial sending off of PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in which the Chelsea players surrounded the referee to try and influence a decision midweek during their Champions League clash, Pellegrini took a swipe at Blues boss Jose Mourinho saying it is not his – nor Manchester City’s – style.
Pellegrini agrees this type of behaviour is now common in football, but that there will always be a correct way of doing things.
Pellegrini said: “You will never see a player of City surround the referee. I don’t think that’s the way this team is prepared to win.
“I think all managers prepare their players to win but there are different styles and different ways to win. You must analyse which is the correct way and which is not the correct way.
“Maybe when you are winning the style doesn’t matter but if, in every game, every time the referee has a decision you have all the players on top of him then it’s impossible for the referee to work.
“I’m not talking about Chelsea, I’m talking about a lot of things that happen in different games with different teams. They always work in trying to pressure the referee in every decision, so the referee always has problems.
“A lot of media here say these are mind games – intelligent mind games. For me, when you don’t win and then start to criticise, I can’t accept that.”
