MANCHESTER // Characteristically, the most candid admission came from Samir Nasri. The Manchester City midfielder can display a silky, smooth touch in possession.
His directness is saved for the microphones and, when he cast his thoughts back to City’s previous meeting with Barcelona at the Etihad Stadium, the Frenchman was blunt in his assessment of their failings.
“I think we respected them too much,” Nasri said. “We weren’t experienced [enough] to compete with a club like this. They know how to win a Champions League [match]. I think it was too much of a big game.”
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Twelve months on, City have another. Once again, Barcelona are the visitors. Once again, City will be analysed to see if they can record a defining result, eliminate one of the traditional giants and advance into the quarter-finals of the Uefa Champions League for the first time.
“Everything will be different,” Nasri said. “We are not going to be scared.”
The message from City is that they are better prepared. Yet it is a moot point if they are a better side than they were a year ago.
The Premier League table would suggest not, and they are less prolific. Yet, as Pellegrini noted, injuries occurred at the wrong time last season when Sergio Aguero missed the first leg and a semi-fit Nasri was on the bench. They go into the rematch without the suspended Yaya Toure but with the remaining players fitter and fresher.
They have never triumphed in a knockout tie in the Champions League but have at least won high-pressure group games, against Bayern Munich and Roma, to salvage qualification from what threatened to be a dreadful campaign.
It is a test if City can show their experience and find the right balance. A gung-ho team were uncharacteristically cautious against Barcelona 12 months ago. They barely threatened even before Martin Demichelis’ tie-altering red card.
“We always try to attack, and we couldn’t do it in that game,” Pellegrini said.
Perhaps City were intimidated into submission by Lionel Messi. They encounter Barcelona’s 391-goal record scorer again, with responsibility for halting the four-time World Player of the Year falling squarely on the shoulders of their captain.
Vincent Kompany was outstanding in City’s 2-1 defeat at the Camp Nou last year, and Pellegrini said: “The game he played in Barcelona was one of his best games. Vincent always grows in these type of games.”
The focus on Messi is a constant, but Pellegrini, typically, pointed out that Luis Enrique’s side include many other vaunted attacking talents. Nasri, bluntly, argued Aguero is the equal of all bar one in Barcelona’s ranks.
“Messi and Ronaldo play in their own galaxy. The rest, [Luis] Suarez, Neymar, they are the same level as Sergio,” he said.
They were not dismissive comments. Indeed, Nasri was quick to stress he is an admirer of Barcelona’s professional passers and, while he shares their ethos, he deflected suggestions he is on a par with them.
“Xavi and Andres Iniesta were the best in world for six or seven years. I like the way they play. I prefer Iniesta. Xavi can pass the ball better, but Iniesta can do more things. It’s too pretentious to compare myself to them.”
The two Spaniards are triple Champions League winners. Nasri has only tasted defeat against Barcelona, at Arsenal and City. Their underwhelming return in Europe explains supporters’ ambivalent relationship with the competition.
“We have had lot of success in the Premier League in the last years and the fans are really passionate about the Premier League,” Nasri said. “We need to create our history in the Champions League to have this special relationship with the fans.”
For players and fans alike, a breakthrough result is required, a landmark achievement needed as City look to announce their arrival in the European elite.
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