Manuel Pellegrini: Man City boss denies he is feeling the pressure

Pellegrini won the Premier League and Capital One Cup in his second season in charge at City

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini says he is under no pressure from the club's owners to retain the Premier League title this season.

The champions are five points behind leaders Chelsea, who also have a game in hand, after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

The Chilean said: "Never when I sign a contract do they tell me I have to win the title every year."

City host bottom club Leicester City in the league on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

Pellegrini denied he was worried about his future at the club despite reports that Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola and City's elite development squad coach Patrick Vieira, are on a shortlist to replace him when his three-year contract expires at the end of next season.

City have suffered a slump in form in 2015, winning just three of their eight league matches and losing 2-1 at home to Barcelona in the Champions League last-16 first leg last week.

There was also a 2-0 defeat to Championship side Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round at the Etihad Stadium in January.

"The only pressure is when I don't see my team playing like I want it to," added Pellegrini.

"Never when I sign a contract do they tell me I have to win the title every year, or five titles in five years.

"Only one team wins and that doesn't mean all the others are failures. There are different ways to analyse a season, the title is important but not the only important thing."

City follow the home match with Leicester with a trip to Burnley, who are 18th, on 14 March.

Pellegrini added: "We are second, we have just two or three points less than last year and we continue in the Champions League.

"I don't think it's important to think about what happened in the past, it's important to think about what will happen in the future, to improve, to be consistent for 90 minutes and not have those bad moments in games.

"The concern is to win the next 11 games. It's important to trust in what we do because I think it's the same team that won the League Cup and Premier League last season, that scored a lot of goals."