FC Barcelona were looking in a great touch until the game of Malaga. But the Andalusians shocked the Catalans by beating them in their own backyard. FC Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has now said that they are not the favorites to progress into the next round at the expense of Man City.
FC Barcelona were termed as the clear favorites to reach the quarter finals of UEFA Champions League ahead of Man City. But the Catalans saw their 11 game winning streak come to an end with a humiliating defeat at the hands of Malaga at Camp Nou on last weekend. And midfielder Andres Iniesta believes that FC Barcelona are not the favorites of this much anticipated clash against Man City.
“The Champions League’s a great competition where everybody tries to get as far as possible. It will be very difficult, we will do our game and then will see what happens. We are at a great level but that shouldn’t make us complacent. The fact we’re going through a good period doesn’t make us favourites,” Iniesta said. He was speaking to Perform magazine.
“The Champions League is a very demanding competition and we will be up against a team full of really great players. Just a couple of mistakes can make us lose the tie so we will just enjoy this moment and try to keep up.
The FC Barcelona midfielder also paid tribute to Man City midfielder Frank Lampard.
a Lampard is a reference in football, both in England and worldwide. I can’t say much more about him.
“He is really experienced both at club and international level. He’s got all my respect and huge credit to him as he’s one of those players you can look at and learn.”
Meanwhile, FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has termed the tie against Man City as the a most important matcha of the year and has asked his teammates to give their best against the English champions.
a Let’s not think twice here because we have one of the biggest games of the year coming up on Tuesday and we don’t want today’s loss to affect us moving forward,” Pique said.
a Manchester City will come right at us and that should allow us to counterattack.”
a That’s football. You win a bunch in a row and eventually you have to lose. We don’t enjoy losing but we’re still alive in all three competitions.”
