Tuesday, 10th December, 2013
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed that goalkeeper Joe Hart will play in his side’s final group stage Champions League match against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena tonight.
The England international, who last featured for his side in their 4-2 Champions League win over Viktoria Plzen in late November, lost his place between the sticks to Costel Pantilimon due to lacklustre performances this season.
However, Pellegrini insists that he has confidence in Hart’s abilities and he does not wish to dwell on the shot-stopper’s previous uninspiring displays in the present campaign.
The manager also called on his side to avenge their 3-1 loss suffered at the hands of the Bavarians in October as he wants the Citizens to finish atop Group D by beating the German club 3-0 tonight.
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“It's an important game. We may have already qualified but we still need to improve and make up for our home defeat against Bayern,” he explained to UEFA’s official site.
“Joe Hart will play – we have to think about the present rather than the past and I have lots of confidence in his ability.
“We would prefer to finish top of the group, but it's been tough having already played against a very strong Bayern team.
“They played better than us [in Manchester] and it will be extremely difficult to beat them 3-0 at their stadium. However, we will give everything to make that happen.”
Manchester City are currently in second spot in the group with 12 points from five outings, while Bayern Munich lead the standings with 15 points from five games.
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