Nasri And Zabaleta Believe
Thursday, 20th Feb 2014 10:18

Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta have both claimed that Manchester City can still knock Barcelona out of the Champions League in next month's second leg. Manuel Pellegrini, , however, may have to watch from the stands if he incurs a touchline ban following his outburst against the referee Jonas Eriksson.

Nasri said "We will have to gamble, but why not? We went to Munich and beat them , so we can do the same.

"The referee was wrong. There was a foul on JesÃºs Navas first — we saw the footage and it was not a penalty. It is really frustrating this decision, because before it was a close game. They did not have any clear chances, but it is not over. We can do it. It will be an open game, they will come like Barcelona.

"They will come and play, so we will have plenty of space. AgÃ¼ero will be back, we will be fitter, so why not? It does not change anything in our belief and our quality. We believe in ourselves. We believe in what we can do.

"At the start of the season, we won at Munich. We won at home to Manchester United and Spurs, and by big scores."

While Zabaleta who put in a hero's performance on tuesday night also had his say. “This is football and we said before the game that the only way we should be beaten by them was if they played better,”

“They did everything well, and it wasn’t because they played a poor Manchester City. That is the difference.

“You should be proud when you give 100 per cent to try to win, and I think we did that. That’s why we are disappointed about the result, but when you look at the whole performance over 90 minutes we did OK.”

“In football it is about belief and confidence, especially when you have the players to do it,” said Zabaleta. “Obviously it will be difficult going to Camp Nou two goals down, but it is not impossible.

“We will try to play a good game and win there, and if we can do it, it would be huge for us.

“I don’t remember anyone winning there like that, but we must turn the page and think about Stoke, another important game for us. We need three points in the Premier League.

“You win some and lose some and need to keep your head up for the next game.”

Photo: Action Images

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