The Etihad outfit are in the draw for the Champions League semi-finals after overcoming French champions Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 on aggregate in their last-eight tie.
It is the furthest City have ever gone in the competition having been beaten by Barcelona at the last-16 stage in successive seasons.
But Fernandinho believes Manuel Pellegrini’s side now have the brains as well as brilliance not to fear any of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid – who beat Barca – in the battle to be European champions.
“I’m sure any of the teams we are going to play against…I’m not sure if scared is the right word…but they will respect us because if you play in the semi-finals it shows that we have some qualities,” he said.
“The semi-finals of the Champions League is only for the big teams. Of course, we want to go further. Against PSG we showed a different level from the last five years when we played in the Champions League.
“I think we played a very intelligent game, a clever game, especially here at the Etihad [in the second leg]. If you take the first half, PSG didn’t create any chances to score a goal. They had only one effort on target with Zlatan’s free-kick.
“And I think if you want to play in the Champions League at that level you need to have more clever, have more technical play.
“Of course we watch the other teams [to learn from them]. These days it is very easy to watch every game because every game is shown live on TV. But if you take last season when we played Barca in the last 16 we were a little bit unlucky, especially in the home leg.
“They kept possession for a long time, they had a lot of good possession. PSG had a lot of possession too but in defence, not in the middle and not in attack.
“They didn’t create any chances to score until the second half when they scored two goals that were offside. So that shows the intelligent way we played.
“Everyone has learned now, especially the manager because I think for me he was one of the best people to learn that, in time, to do the right thing at the right moment.”
City’s European exploits have drawn similarities with that of Chelsea’s run in 2012.
The Blues also struggled in the Premier League back then, eventually finishing sixth, but triumphed on penalties against favourites Bayern Munich in a final held at the German club’s home ground.
And, as England’s sole survivors in the competition, Fernandinho hopes City will also get the backing of the nation.
“Of course,” added the Brazilian midfielder. “I think you guys in England should be more, I don’t know, be more supportive of your clubs because the Champions League is great because it involves the best teams in Europe and it is the highest quality of football and if an English team is in the semi-finals they deserve that.
“I’m sure when Chelsea got to the semi-finals and reached the final they deserved that and now we deserve that.
“I think it was one of the targets of the club for the last six or seven years and now we are in the semi-final everyone is happy and excited. And to be honest this is a key moment for everyone at the club.”
Great feeling and very proud of this team.
— Fernandinho (@fernandinho) April 12, 2016
UCL semi final here we go.
Well done boys.#CMONCITY pic.twitter.com/mAA1sfiPuo
