Pellegrini cautious after City defeat Dynamo

• Yaya Touré struck late to earn City a 3-1 first-leg win in Kyiv
• "Nothing is finished," warns a happy but cautious Manuel Pellegrini 
• Dynamo Kyiv coach Serhiy Rebrov: "We deserved this because of our own mistakes"
• City have never reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals
• Second leg to take place at the City of Manchester Stadium on 15 March

Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City manager
For managers, it's always important to take the right decisions. We must respect all competitions but in this situation, it was a right decision to give a rest to the players at the weekend. It really influenced the way we played today.

This game had two parts. In the first half, we scored two goals and had a few other chances. After the break Dynamo scored with a deflection and improved a lot. Joe Hart made a crucial save when they could have levelled, and fortunately we scored again in the final minutes.

• The story in photos: Dynamo Kyiv 1-3 Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini watches on in Kyiv©AFP/Getty Images

It is a very important result but nothing is finished. The worst thing for us is to think we've already done everything after a 3-1 away win. It's important to understand that we face a big team in Dynamo Kyiv. Now we have more chance of reaching the next round but we need to play well in the second leg.

I think we have improved compared with the last two seasons. We were unlucky to be drawn against Barcelona then and everyone knows how hard is to play against the best team in the world. This season we won the group and that was really important. Now we need to play well for another 90 minutes at home and use our chance to get to the next round.

• In-depth match statistics: Dynamo lose despite having more possession

Serhiy Rebrov, Dynamo Kyiv coach
Unfortunately, we deserved this defeat because of our own mistakes. We let City show their best qualities and we failed to show ours. After conceding two goals in the first half, we played with more courage and took the initiative. We scored and had a few more chances but conceded again in the closing minutes.

It was obvious our players were too nervous, and this lifted only in the second half. I'm glad we changed the course of the game but I admit City were deserved winners. We badly lack experience at this level.

Serhiy Rebrov attempts to get his point across©AFP/Getty Images

We created chances but missed them. Of course, the long winter break played its role, but I'm glad my players didn't throw in the towel and I didn't worry that they'd end up conceding five tonight. They tried to change the game and fought until the end.

We played against very strong opponents whose counterattacks early in the match made our players lose confidence. City are one of the best teams in the world and we saw their huge potential, especially in terms of an attack that is very hard to stop. Now we are going to analyse our mistakes and prepare better for the second leg.