Manchester City's Hart, Sterling wary of Dynamo Kyiv
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
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After two straight last-16 exits to Barcelona, Manchester City are now matched with Dynamo Kyiv but Joe Hart and Raheem Sterling are taking nothing for granted.
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After two straight UEFA Champions League group stage exits, Manchester City finally made the round of 16 in 2013/14 – and now they look to take another step forward.
For the last two seasons, City have had the misfortune to run into Barcelona in the first knockout round, losing home and away each time. However, having topped their section this term, they were seeded in the draw and will now visit Dynamo Kyiv for Wednesday's first leg of what is a sequel to the clubs' 2010/11 UEFA Europa League last-16 tie.
On that occasion City went out despite a 1-0 home win having gone down 2-0 at Dynamo's old Valeriy Lobanovskyi Stadium; this time the NSK Olimpiyskyi is the venue for the opening match. "They were very good, they scored some good goals against us – it was really tough actually, a real tough double-header for us," City's England goalkeeper Joe Hart told UEFA.com.
"The stadium was obviously different. I've played in the stadium since in the EUROs, we had some good games there in 2012, and I'm looking forward to another one."
As for this season's encounter, City are targeting their first UEFA Champions League quarter-final. "It depends how you want to look at it, they're either well rested or they could be rusty, with the format of their league season, but that will all be decided after the game. They're obviously in a strong position – to be in the last 16 of the Champions League, they're well proven in Europe. So it's going to be a tough game, especially with a really tough away leg to start with."
City had a ding-dong battle with Juventus in Group D, losing twice to the Italian champions yet winning all four other fixtures to finish first by a point. The climactic result was a 4-2 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach in which 80th and 81st-minute goals from Raheem Sterling turned a match City were trailing.
Winger Sterling knows it will be no easier against Dynamo. "Any team in the Champions League, you can most definitely expect it to be a tough one, especially going to their home ground at first," the England player said. "It will be definitely a different atmosphere and something that we're looking forward to. It will be a really good test for us."
