Manuel Pellegrini has lamented the errors made by Manchester City last night that gave Barcelona the advantage and admits that his team face an uphill task at the Nou Camp next month to overturn the deficit.
Two first-half goals from former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez pegged back Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie at the Etihad and though the home side reduced the deficit in the 69th minute through a Sergio Aguero goal, the Catalan giants were the happier of the two teams after the final whistle was blown.
Lionel Messi did miss a penalty later in the game, which might have made Manchester City’s job even harder, but Pellegrini admits his team are now up against it in the tie.
The Manchester City boss was disappointed with the fact that it was his side’s errors in the first half that led to the Barcelona goals and after Gael Clichy was sent off for a second bookable offence, he admits that it was always going to be difficult to score an equaliser.
“We feel a bitter sensation because we did not play well in the first half”, Pellegrini told UEFA.
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“We improved a lot in the second half and we created chances, but we made errors. I think the first goal was down to an error of ours and that gave Barcelona the advantage.
“We corrected our mistakes in the second half and we had chances to equalise, but then when you are down to ten men it is always tough.”
Pellegrini is aware that Barcelona are in the driver’s seat in the tie and stressed that his side need to show a lot of character in the second leg at the Nou Camp to rescue the situation.
“The team now need to show the right amount of character to go to Barcelona in search of victory.”
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