MANCHESTER -- Samir Nasri has admitted Manchester City showed Barcelona too much respect in their Champions League meeting last year and said it was "too big" a game for them.
City meet Barcelona again in the last 16 of this season's competition and midfielder Nasri thinks they are ready for the task of trying to defeat the Catalan club now.
Manuel Pellegrini's team lost 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium and 2-1 at the Camp Nou last term and, although they scored more than 100 goals in the Premier League, were unusually cautious in their clash with the four-times champions of Europe.
City played left-back Aleksandar Kolarov in midfield, only started with one striker and had just three shots on target in the home game.
And Nasri said in a news conference: "I think we respect them too much but we weren't experienced 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."
Nasri denied the rematch is about revenge and thinks City are better equipped to progress now.
He added: "We want to beat Barcelona because we want to go as far as possible in the Champions League, not because we want revenge. For us, it is a different game. We are a better team than last year. We had a couple of players injured [then]. Everything will be different. We have more experience than last year. We are not going to be scared."
Manager Pellegrini, who has pledged to be positive on Tuesday, denied City went on the defensive against Barcelona last year.
He explained: "I don't think last year we changed our style. Maybe we couldn't do what we tried to do. We always try to attack and we couldn't do it in that game."
Nasri believes City need a defining win in the Champions League to rewrite their history and make their fans converts to the competition.
They have never reached the quarterfinals of Europe's premier club competition and have struggled to sell all their tickets at the Etihad Stadium for some Champions League games.
In contrast, they have been champions of England twice in the last three seasons and Nasri said: "We have a lot of success in the Premier League so the fans are really passionate about that. We need to create our history in the Champions League to have a special relationship with the fans."