Navas: Barca tie will be different

Jesus Navas insists Manchester City’s Champions League last 16 tie with Barcelona will be unlike the last time the two clubs met.

The Catalans knocked City out of the competition at the same stage last season, running out convincing 4-1 winners on aggregate, but winger Navas feels it will be a different story this time around.

“It will be very different because every match is different, so it’s important we keep our eye on the ball at every single moment if we are going to come out on top,” the Spain international told Marca.

“I think the tie is going to be extremely evenly matched. We are two very strong teams and to be honest my only hope is that it will be a great occasion.

“Last year’s games were decided by one-off moments and, like I said before, we will have to remain focused at all times, not let them settle and go all-out to attack.”

Navas acknowledged there is still some time to go before the two clubs meet for the first leg at the Etihad Stadium in late February.

“We have a lot of matches between now and then and the time to think about Barcelona will come in due course, but we’ll prepare for it thoroughly.

“Obviously everyone wants to win the Champions League as it’s the top competition in Europe, while we were drawn in a very tough group and had to fight right to the very end.

“But beating Bayern Munich was the key to us putting together the wins we have and I think we’ve turned the corner,” he concluded.

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