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Cape Town - Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini remains confident his side can progress through the Champions League group stages, despite having picked up just one point so far.
The Citizens were dealt a cruel blow in their Group E opener against Bayern Munich last month as an injury-time Jerome Boateng goal saw Pellegrini's men slump to a 1-0 loss.
The Premier League champions looked set to bounce back on Tuesday after Sergio Aguero opened the scoring against AS Roma from the penalty spot, but a brilliant Francesco Totti goal ensured the Serie A outfit a share of the spoils.
Those results have left City third in the group, three points behind Roma and a further two off the pace of leaders Bayern, although Pellegrini is refusing to throw in the towel just yet, and feels they can get right back into the race for a top-two finish when they face CSKA Moscow in the next round of fixtures.
Asked how difficult it would now be for his side to qualify, Pellegrini said: "We don't know. It depends on the way we play the next game.
"We have just one point from six but also we are just three points behind Roma, so there is a lot of things (to play for). We hope next game in Russia we can win and we will see what happens against Bayern Munich.
"We have 12 more points to fight (for) and we will fight to the end to try and qualify."
Looking back over the encounter, Pellegrini added: "It (the result) was not a surprise for me. Roma are a team in form with great players. They made it difficult for us, it was a difficult game but I thought we could win it in the last 20 minutes.
"A point playing at home is never good but we played against a very strong team in a very good moment (of form).
"We didn't play well, especially in the first half. We improved in the second half but I think the draw was the real (right) thing for both teams.
"We must continue fighting for the next 12 points and we will see which teams qualify for the next round."
The Citizens were dealt a cruel blow in their Group E opener against Bayern Munich last month as an injury-time Jerome Boateng goal saw Pellegrini's men slump to a 1-0 loss.
The Premier League champions looked set to bounce back on Tuesday after Sergio Aguero opened the scoring against AS Roma from the penalty spot, but a brilliant Francesco Totti goal ensured the Serie A outfit a share of the spoils.
Those results have left City third in the group, three points behind Roma and a further two off the pace of leaders Bayern, although Pellegrini is refusing to throw in the towel just yet, and feels they can get right back into the race for a top-two finish when they face CSKA Moscow in the next round of fixtures.
Asked how difficult it would now be for his side to qualify, Pellegrini said: "We don't know. It depends on the way we play the next game.
"We have just one point from six but also we are just three points behind Roma, so there is a lot of things (to play for). We hope next game in Russia we can win and we will see what happens against Bayern Munich.
"We have 12 more points to fight (for) and we will fight to the end to try and qualify."
Looking back over the encounter, Pellegrini added: "It (the result) was not a surprise for me. Roma are a team in form with great players. They made it difficult for us, it was a difficult game but I thought we could win it in the last 20 minutes.
"A point playing at home is never good but we played against a very strong team in a very good moment (of form).
"We didn't play well, especially in the first half. We improved in the second half but I think the draw was the real (right) thing for both teams.
"We must continue fighting for the next 12 points and we will see which teams qualify for the next round."
