Manuel Pellegrini believes Manchester City have reason to celebrate, despite their 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday.
Luis Suarez put the Catalans well on their way to a commanding lead in the tie with two away goals, until Sergio Aguero pulled one back after the break and Joe Hart saved a Lionel Messi penalty deep in stoppage time to leave the manager in good spirits ahead of the return leg on March 18.
“I’m very happy with the way we played,” he was quoted as saying by Sky Sports after the match.
“It was the way we must play against Barcelona, we demonstrated that in the second half with the same names.
“Barcelona will always dominate some parts of the game, but with the same players in the second half and losing 2-0 in the second half it was difficult.
“I think we showed it was the way we must play from the first minute.
“In the second we did what we talked about before the game, we played well. It’s not easy to play against Barcelona.
"We are going to play at Barcelona and try to do it the way we normally do in Europe. We have a chance.
“It was a very important save. It gives us more chance to try and win in Barcelona. 3-1 is a very difficult score to try and erase. It was a very unnecessary penalty.
“We know penalties can be missed in this game of ours and he will take the next one.
“Tonight is a night to celebrate. All the first half was fantastic from every player, every person on the pitch.
“I can't complain about the attitude of the players.”
