Nasri: 'City owe UCL qualification to Sheikh Mansour'

Alam Khan - Reporter 05:17 25/11/2014
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Paying their debt: Samir Nasri and Manchester City.

    Samir Nasri says he and his Manchester City team-mates need to repay the faith shown by owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al

    Nahyan tonight by avoiding another Champions League loss.

    – #Quiz360: Win a session in an F1 simulator

    – UCL preview: City on the brink, Chelsea take on old boss
    – #360debate: Should Arsenal sack Arsene Wenger

    The Premier League champions must beat Bayern Munich at the Etihad in order to qualify from the group stage – failure to do so would see them exit the tournament for second time in three seasons.

    For a club with such high ambitions, the 27-year-old midfielder accepts exiting early could result in a major overhaul of the squad next summer.

    “Let’s be honest. With the salary of every player and the level of those players, 90 per cent of the team is world class, then not to qualify from the first round of the Champions League would be a huge blow for the club – and for us as well," he said.

    “We need to do something or otherwise next year it is going to be new players, everything. That’s how we work when you play for a big team, a big club. You have to respond and show everyone you deserve to qualify.

    “In the last three years I have been here, we have won the Premier League twice and been runners-up, but now we have to improve in the Champions League if we want to be a top club. It’s not enough to be top in your league if you don’t do anything in the Champions League.

    “With the players we have and everything, the owner gives us his trust, we have to return it in the Champions League. But the thing in the Champions League is not just the talent, it’s not being a team, it’s the experience as well.

    “We still have a chance and we need to take it. It’s the perfect scene to show we can compete with the best team in the world.”

    The France international admits City are “lucky” to still be in with a chance of qualifying for the last 16 having failed to pick up a win so far. But they are just two points behind Roma and CSKA Moscow with games against Bayern and the Italians left.

    And he believes City can show they are 'big time flops' and despite domestic success, are hungry for silverware on the European stage.

    “At the moment, we aren't performing (well) in the Champions League and that is a reality. That is nothing to do with a comfort zone," he continued.

    “The manager doesn’t give anyone comfort in what happened last year. We need to show it (hunger) in every game, but most importantly in this kind of game.

    We are a team that wants to win no matter what. We have a chance to play for a big club, we are treated the right 
    way and sometimes as well it’s not good to talk too much, it’s better to talk with your feet.”

    Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso, however, does not believe Champions League success will elude City for 
    long, even if they do fail this year.

    “It’s hard to tell from the outside, but of course you expect that any season City will make that impact in Europe," he said.

    "So far they haven’t done it but I’m pretty sure that a big year for City in Europe isn’t far away. Because season by
    season, they try to improve.”

    Recommended