Zabaleta's pride and pain for stung City
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
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Pablo Zabaleta touted Manchester City FC's spirit with ten men against FC Barcelona but rued conceding a late second, saying: "It is not the same to lose 2-0 as 1-0."
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Manchester City FC defender Pablo Zabaleta pointed to the pride found amid the pain of a costly defeat as he reflected on his side's 2-0 defeat at home to FC Barcelona on Tuesday night, with the handicap of playing the last 37 minutes a man down after Martín Demichelis's dismissal having made City's task "doubly difficult". It was the first time City had failed to score in ten UEFA Champions League matches in Manchester – something made even more costly in the final minute when Daniel Alves hit Barcelona's second goal.
Pablo Zabaleta, City defender
I was disappointed by the result. It is not the same to lose 2-0 as 1-0. When you play against a team like Barcelona, it is difficult when you play with 11 so imagine with ten players it is doubly difficult, but we should be proud today – we played a good game and at the end had a few chances even with ten players.
We have to be happy with what we did in the second half because maybe Barcelona had more possession but they didn't create too many chances, because we were very solid defensively and had a few chances to score – Víctor Valdés made a few saves in the second half as well as the first. At the end we have to be disappointed – we should have had a better result or got a goa,l but we must have belief and try to do well in the Camp Nou. We need to play another 90 minutes. It is going to be very difficult but nothing is impossible in football.
Fernandinho, City midfielder
I am happy after two weeks out to be back in a big game like today but very disappointed with the result. The first 15 minutes, they played better, but after that we played our way – we tried to score, we had some chances, but the second half was completely different. After Demichelis's sending-off it was a little bit difficult, but everyone tried to keep going and we tried to get a goal and keep in the game, but unfortunately in the last minute we conceded another goal. It is difficult now, but we know in football anything can happen.
Jesús Navas, City winger
It was quite an even first half with both teams trying to attack. We started the second half well and it was a shame the way it went after that. We kept fighting until the end but it is not easy when you're a man down for almost the whole second half. We had a man down, a key player, and it is difficult to lose a player in that position.
