Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 10y

Nasri takes heart from Valladolid win

Samir Nasri believes Manchester City can draw inspiration from Real Valladolid and defeat Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.

Mooney: Last Chance Saloon

City go to Catalonia for the Champions League last-16 clash with a 2-0 first-leg deficit after Lionel Messi and Daniel Alves scored at the Etihad Stadium.

But Nasri, 26, who has found the back of the net in his last two appearances, takes heart from the fact that underdogs Valladolid saw off Gerardo Martino’s side 1-0 in La Liga on Saturday, and feels it shows the Spanish champions are beatable.

He said: “I think anything is possible in football. I saw them this week against Valladolid. It just shows they are human. They are a great team but we are not going to have any problem to respect them because we know it is a great team. We have to do everything from the start.

“We have nothing to lose. If you go there and you lose it is no more, but if you get a result it will be fantastic. I think we have nothing to lose. Just attack them from the start and try to score an early goal.”

Nasri played for Arsenal when Messi scored all of Barcelona’s goals in a 4-1 win against the Gunners in 2010.

“It is not a good memory,” Nasri said. “But at the time I thought they were better than they are today. We played against Messi, who at the time was unplayable. He scored four goals against us. I hope it is not going to be the same."

Both Barcelona and City go into Wednesday’s match on the back of defeats after the Capital One Cup winners were eliminated from the FA Cup by Championship side Wigan on Sunday.

“It was a bad performance. We didn't play well,” Nasri said. “The big disappointment is that it is twice now that Wigan beat us in the FA Cup [after last season’s final]. It is really difficult to accept.

“Thank God we play a big game on Wednesday. It is the best way to forget this game and be focused on the next one.”

^ Back to Top ^