With all their vast wealth and boundless ambition, Manchester City are in the ideal position to at last start punching their weight in Europe this week by reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time.
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“With the players we’ve got in this team, we should be trying to go all the way, because we have ability and if we can all pull together, I can see us going as far as we want to”.
City won the first leg in Kyiv 3-1 meaning the eastern European side is facing a tough task to overturn the two-goal deficit. I feel the same responsibility, the same desire to continue further in the Champions League, so I don’t think that one thing is linked – at least in my way of thinking – with the other one.Manuel Pellegrini guided Villarreal to the Champions League’s semi-finals in 2006, and has aspirations to go further hopes to go further with City this season.
Hart expects Kiev – managed by former Spurs striker Sergie Rebrov – to be in better shape than the first leg three weeks ago which was the Ukraine club’s first game after a two-month winter break. We play against a team who know how to play this type of game, ‘ Pellegrini added. Anyone who has qualified for the last 16 is a risky side.
The Ivory Coast worldwide missed the goalless draw at Norwich on Saturday with a foot injury, but trained with his team-mates on Monday morning ahead of the last-16 clash. They’re a Champions League side.
“We’re not going to play with the score we got in Kiev, we’re just going to say it’s 0-0 and try to win the game”.
City has failed to win back-to-back Premier League games since October and slipped to fourth, the final Champions League qualification place.
The first-leg ended in a 3-1 victory for City with Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure scoring the goals.
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Luis Enrique even rested some of his top players ahead of Arsenal’s visit tomorrow, taking no chances against a team they have twice eliminated in the knockout stages since beating them 2-1 in the 2006 final.
