Manchester City head into their second group game of this season's Champions League competition when they face Italian side Roma at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening (local time). They do so on the back of a defeat in their first fixture against Bayern Munich.
City have only progressed once beyond the group stages in the Champions League in four attempts, when they reached the second round last season and whilst Pellegrini has set a minimum target of the quarter-finals this time round, the Chilean is adamant that the blue half of Manchester will soon celebrate a European triumph.
"I am absolutely sure we will do it. It's very important to win the Champions League. We hope we will win it this year," said Pellegrini.
"But suppose we do. After that it will be finished. It's a good achievement but then you must do it every year. Sometimes it will be the final, sometimes the semi-final. How many Champions League do Man United have? Two when Alex Ferguson had his project.
"Winning the Champions League is one of the projects but we must also continue winning Premier League titles and FA Cups and to arrive in the semi-finals and not to be eliminated at the group stage."
Pellegrini, who has yet to win Europe's ultimate prize but has exceeded expectations in the competition whilst manager of Villareal and Malaga, won one Premier League crown as well as the Capital One Cup in his debut campaign in England but the Champions League is very much the ultimate goal for everyone associated with the club.
The former Real Madrid manager wants his current side to be mentioned in the same crop as Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but has stressed that domestic glory cannot be sacrificed for European success, pointing to the examples of those three teams as clubs that have the competitive balance in every competition.
'If you want to be a really big team you must be involved in both competitions - Europe and in England - and to be a strong team, not only to be comfortable with winning just once," the Chilean said.
"Our target is to be successful in the Champions League and the Premier League, both. Real Madrid or Barcelona or Bayern Munich or the teams playing in other leagues, if they are not involved in one of the competitions it is not good for them.
"They must always be fighting for the domestic title and also in Europe. That is what this club must need to do in the future and it is one of our targets."
