Pablo Zabaleta is confident Manchester City can make a step forward in the Champions League this season as they prepare for Wednesday’s last-16 tie with Dynamo Kiev.
Advertisement
Goals from Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure ensured the Citizens left Ukraine with a healthy first leg advantage, yet coach Pellegrini feels his side’s mission has not yet been accomplished.
“It’s a very good result”.
“The performance was good, there was a lot of high pressing, we created a lot of chances and 3-1 is a good result – but we need to make sure we don’t get too carried away with it”.
“I think we have more important things in this moment” than the FA Cup, Pellegrini said after the defeat at Stamford Bridge.
The Argentinian finished superbly in the 15th minute – his 16th goal in his last 17 Champions League starts – and City grew in confidence from there on.
During the January window they loaned out two players to the Bundesliga, as Younes Belhanda and Artem Kravets joined Schalke and Stuttgart respectively until the end of the German season, whilst former QPR, Tottenham and Portsmouth midfielder Niko Kranjcar was released.
The Ukrainian champions are the outsiders, having reached the knockout stages for the first time since they were beaten by Bayern Munich in the 1999 semi-finals.
Now attention switches to Sunday’s Wembley date with Liverpool – the next match in a critical spell that also includes a Barclays Premier League trip to Anfield next Wednesday.
Vincent Kompany hailed Manchester City’s performance in the 3-1 win over Dynamo Kiev as the kind should produce in every game.
“Their domestic form doesn’t matter as the Champions League is a completely different competition, and we saw their priorities at the weekend”. The reigning Ukrainian champions have won each of their last 5 games, scoring 14 times and conceding just once.
The status of the world’s oldest cup competition came into focus again when Manuel Pellegrini named five debutants in his starting XI at Chelsea on Sunday, in a move that angered both Manchester City fans and lovers of the FA Cup, who claimed that the gesture was disrespectful to the competition. “That was an improvement on last season”, added Pellegrini.
“We have a similar squad to the one we played in the last Premier League game”.
‘I respect all the competitions but it was important to rest players from that game.
“We now have the chance to arrive at the next stage and it’s important if you can be among the best eight teams in Europe”.
The home side will naturally bet their bottom dollar on him to supply the goods upfront, but he’ll have to get the better of Vicent Kompany first. “I remember being in on Deadline Day and saying that I didn’t think the timing of the Pep Guardiola announcement was good”.
Advertisement
But there was nothing magical or special about the hosts, who returned from a winter break of nearly 12 weeks without action but appeared to be still in hibernation.
