Negredo delight as Agüero partnership thrives

Álvaro Negredo did not hide his delight after a memorable night for Manchester City FC in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. The Spain striker scored a hat-trick that ensured his side's progress to the UEFA Champions League knockout stages for the first time with a 5-2 victory over Group D rivals PFC CSKA Moskva. It was not the only milestone for the club, Negredo's treble the first by a City player in the competition.

"I am delighted to get three goals so quickly in a team like this and let's hope I can get a lot more," said Negredo, who hailed the contribution of strike partner Sergio Agüero. The Argentinian provided the assist for the Spaniard's opening goal and hit two of his own to overtake Francis Lee as City's record scorer in Europe. "From the first moment we did well together," Negredo added of a partnership that was too much for a CSKA team who, by their own admission, could not handle City's attacking threat.

Álvaro Negredo, City striker
I'm happy with the three points, first of all the team did a great job [and] despite making some mistakes and giving goals away, we had the game under control throughout.

I'm happy to score goals. For a striker it's a [big] part of the game, I am delighted to get three so quickly in a team like this and let's hope I can get a lot more – that'd be a good sign for everybody.

[On his partnership with Agüero] It's been very good from the first day, and especially with both us speaking Spanish, we understand each other well. He's a great player, and with great players it's easy to get along; from the first moment we did well together and with him, Edin [Džeko] and myself, when we play, we understand one another.

[On City's scoring threat] It's down to the type of players we've got, who have a lot of movement – they are not static, and movement does a lot to unsettle the other team. We're doing it well and thanks to this are getting a lot of goals.

Martín Demichelis, City defender
The team came out strong – we wanted to get on top of them quickly and managed to do that thankfully.

Qualifying is an important first step; let's hope we finish this group stage with two good games, which is important for our confidence, and we'll have to then see who we get in the draw. The team are on a good path, we're gradually showing the style that the manager wants and this is important. It's clear that City have players who unsettle the opposition, players who in any moment, in any space, in any action can score a goal. It's a big worry for our opponents.

Samir Nasri, City winger 
For me, Negredo and Agüero are really complete together. One is small, quick, has good feet; the other one is just a beast – he can keep the ball, score goals – and the last couple of games they've banged in goals for fun.

Rasmus Elm, CSKA midfielder
It was hard, especially after a start like this. It is always tough when you face such a tough opponent and is even tougher when it is 1-0 after two minutes. They are a good team but we also made it a little bit too easy for them – 5-2 is not good. They have one of the best players in the world in Agüero, and [David] Silva also, and they made the difference. Hopefully we can manage third and get a draw at least [at FC Viktoria Plzeň]; we've got Bayern first and that is not going to be easy.

Zoran Tosić, CSKA winger
Before the game we were looking at the match against them two weeks ago. We saw how we need to attack and defend; we knew they were very dangerous in the attacking areas but also that they leave a lot of space at the back and we tried to use [that] space. But they play much better at home than away – they are keeping the ball all the time, trying to make opportunities and are much more dangerous. We'll keep fighting for third place.