MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini claims it would be a disaster if Manchester City miss out on next season's Champions League.
His side are currently in the fourth and final spot for next season's competition but must win their last two Premier League games to be certain of a top-four finish.
A victory over Arsenal on Sunday would see them leapfrog over Arsene Wenger's side into third in the table and crucially stay clear of rivals Manchester United and West Ham United with just one game remaining.
Chelsea have already failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 12 years and Pellegrini says it's crucial that City don't miss out too for next season when Pep Guardiola takes over from him in the summer.
Pellegrini told a news conference: "If you are not in the top four and in the Champions League the next year, to demonstrate you are one of the best teams in England, then for me it's a disaster of a season.
"That's why I always said last year, when we didn't win any titles, that it was not a disaster. It was not a good season, no, it was not a good season. But a disaster is when you are not involved in the next season's Champions League. That is a disaster for all the big teams.
"Of course, if you don't win and you're not in the top four positions of the Premier League, and you win the Champions League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup, it's a very good season."
City were knocked out of this season's Champions League on Wednesday when they were beaten 1-0 in the semifinal second leg at Real Madrid.
Pellegrini said it's vital that his players don't dwell on the defeat in Spain and focus on ensuring they get the chance to go even further in next season's competition.
"I think that [they are ready] physically -- we played on Wednesday in the Champions League and then on Sunday night so the players must be recovered," he added.
"If you are talking about the mentality, of course it's not easy to come back after so much disappointment.
"We had that in our mind that we were going to play in that final, but it's so important for the players and for the club to be in the Champions League next year, to continue living the same moments that we live this moment, to play a quarterfinal, to play semifinals. I hope they will mentally recover."
City have failed to beat any side from the top six this season but the Chilean is confident that his side can put that poor run of results behind them at the Etihad against Arsenal and secure the top-four finish they need.
"That's a statistic that is not very important for me," added Pellegrini. "A lot of things happened in these games but it is strange to be so high in the table when we didn't win those kind of games against the top teams.
"I hope that we are going to finish with that statistic on Sunday."
