Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is confident he can handle the club's rivalry with Manchester United - thanks to his time in charge of River Plate in Argentina.

There are endless fights between the two sets of supporters with Boca fans referring to their River Plate opponents as "chickens". And the River Plate followers call the Boca boys "little pigs".

Pellegrini said: "It's very different. In ­Argentina, River Plate and Boca is crazy rivalry. Not only on the pitch during the 90 minutes.

"It's the whole week. The whole month. The whole year. Of course, we have an important ­rivalry with Manchester United and we will do our best to beat them.

"But here it is an easier rivalry than at River Plate. Once you have managed in a River-Boca match, you can manage anywhere in the world because of the pressure.

"A coach who has worked in Argentina can work in any part of the world.

"If you lose the Superclasico you can't go out of your home for at least a week. You have to hide. It's very difficult to go out of the stadium the same day. And you must stay in the ­training ground at least two or three hours after a session has finished. So I'm not concerned about the pressure here at City.

"I have had a lot of pressure ­everywhere. I'm used to being ­under pressure.

"The pressure I had at Real Madrid is about the same as at ­Manchester City. I ­definitely think ­Argentina is the worst."