Samir Nasri believes Manchester City showed Barcelona too much respect in last season’s Champions League, with the Frenchman insisting “we won’t be scared” when they again face the Catalan club on Tuesday evening in the first leg of their last 16 clash.
A year ago City were knocked out 4-1 on aggregate in the same round, losing the opening match at the Etihad Stadium 2-0. With Tuesday’s game again at home, the Frenchman accepted City cannot make the same mistake.
“Yeah, I think we respect them too much but we weren’t experienced [enough] to compete with a club like this. They know how to win a Champions League. I think it was too much of a big game. We were not ready. This year is totally different. We know what we are capable of. We will respect them but we won’t be scared.”
City face a Barça side that boasts a frontline of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar. Nasri believes Messi is a player from another “galaxy” while the other two are in the same bracket as team-mate, Sergio Agüero.
“I think Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo play in their own galaxy. They compete with each other. The rest, Suárez and Neymar are the same level as Sergio [Agüero]. Sergio when he is fit can lift the team and score goals.”
Since Suárez’s £75m move from Liverpool he has managed only seven goals in 22 games for Barça. While at Anfield Suárez was the central player, and Nasri believes the Uruguayan has to accept playing a secondary role now. “I think it is different,” he said. “At Liverpool, he was the main striker. You are not going to score 70 goals [now]. He makes a lot assists and opens up space for Messi and Neymar. He is good, he just doesn’t score as much. At Liverpool, the team was built around him. At Barcelona you cannot do that when you have Messi at his prime. When you arrive at a big club you have to deal with things like that.”
Messi and the Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué were photographed in a casino on Sunday night, just hours before departing for Manchester for Tuesday’s last-16 encounter. After the club’s first home defeat since 1 November on Saturday, the pair were pictured in the Daily Mail outside Casino de Barcelona along with their former Camp Nou team-mate Cesc Fàbregas.
