Pellegrini's Manchester City side topped Group D, which contained Juventus, Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach - a draw that was labelled as the 'Group of Death' at the time.
City's £49million summer signing Raheem Sterling scored twice for the home side as they came from behind to beat Monchengladbach.
David Silva had opened the scoring only for Julian Korb to level for the Germans, who then took the lead though Raffael.
However, a three-minute double from Sterling and a tap-in from Wilfred Bony late on ensured the victory that, coupled with Juventus' 1-0 loss to Sevilla, lifted City to the top of their group.
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