Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has said that his side are still confident they can’t overturn the first leg deficit suffered at the hands of FC Barcelona in the last-16 tie of the UEFA Champions League.
Ahead of his side’s game against Burnley, Hart told the Telegraph, a Can we win? Yes, we can. Wea re going to have a right go at it.
“We gave them a real run for their money when we calmed down and got into the game in the second half. Theya re not expecting an easy night. Wea re going there to win.a
a Barcelona can rip open the tightest of defences so if you try to contain them ita s not going to happen; 180 minutes is a long time to keep them out so our mentality is to try to win the game, and I think we can do that there.a
Manchester City’s route to the last-16 wasn’t easy as they had to beat Bayern Munich and AS Roma in their last two group games to progress after a wretched start where they collected just two points from four games. However, Manchester City are yet to manage a win against Barcelona and were beaten 2-1 at the Camp Now last season which ended their campaign. With the league slipping out of their hands quicky, City will have to put in a top performance in midweek if they are to salvage their season.
City lie five points behind Chelsea and could go further behind if they lose to Burnley tonight. However, Hart remained positive and added that his side can still catch Chelsea, a Yes, of course we can catch Chelsea. Wea ve proven that in the two times wea ve won the league. Hopefully we can do it again.
“Chelsea are a fantastic team, and have been for years at the top, since before Roman Abramovicha s investments, but obviously since then theya ve been a really solid club.a
Despite Hart’s confident words, City have it all to do as history suggests that they haven’t been good in overturning scorelines in the Champions League or retain the Premier League title. The players will need to put in a performance like the one against AS Roma when they dug deep to secure progress. However, against a Barcelona side who have been in irresistible form off-late, it could mean mission-impossible. Pellegrini’s future pretty much lies on the Barcelona game as defeat will mean that his side could go trophyless in the current season.