Champions League: Samir Nasri says Manchester City's win over Roma shows they are Champions League contenders
Thursday 11 December 2014 16:30, UK
Samir Nasir believes Manchester City’s outstanding performance in their 2-0 win over Roma on Wednesday shows they are a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League.
The French midfielder played a key role in helping City advance to the knockout stages as he opened the scoring on the hour mark with a stunning strike from outside the box.
Nasri sees his goal as a good omen of things to come for City and he revealed he is planning on shooting from distance more often.
“Last year I scored a goal in the Capital One Cup final that gave us a trophy,” Nasri said. “I scored in the last game against West Ham for the title as well.
“But this one was really important for us to qualify, for our ambition in Europe and to show the world that we are a big team. It was a great strike. I saw it back in the dressing room and I should try it more often."
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of City’s victory was the fact they started the game without captain Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, David Silva and top-scorer Sergio Aguero.
Nasri believes the squad deserves huge credit for stepping up and grinding out such an important win without four of their key players.
This goal was really important for us to qualify for our ambition in Europe and to show the world that we are a big team.
"We like to do it the hard way,” Nasri said. “We always believe in our quality and in the last few weeks we have been back to our best.
"We showed we are a team. When Kompany, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero are not there - I think for any other team it would be really difficult but we showed we could do it."
City goalkeeper Joe Hart was also quick to point out just how big it was for the club to win without their four stars.
Hart said: "We can't get away from that fact; they are four players who would get into most teams in the world.
"But we have always shown we are a strong squad and that's how you win things and we have won things recently by doing that. We look forward to carrying on."
Hart did admit that the team’s signature win in Rome was overdue as the team have flattered to deceive in Europe in recent years but he said the important thing now for City is to build upon the result in the knockout stages.
"Yes, it was about time we did,” Hart admitted. “We started the campaign poorly but we have come good at the right time when we needed to and we have won the game.
"But we need to build on it now. We got ourselves all the way through last time and we struggled against Barcelona, so we have to look to be positive and see what we can do.
"The draw is going to take care of itself. It is what it is and we are just happy we are in it. We are confident we can do well against anyone but it is Leicester now and we have to turn our eyes to that. That's our next big game."
Watch the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League live from 11.00am on Monday on Sky Sports News HQ
