Zabaleta: Barca defeat means nothing

Pablo Zabaleta says Manchester City aren’t reading too much into Barcelona’s defeat to Malaga ahead of their Champions League encounter.

The sides meet at City’s Etihad Stadium on Tuesday and Zabaleta has spoken to Mundo Deportivo about the fixture, which comes after a weekend of differing fortunes for the clubs.

City hammered Newcastle 5-0 the same day Barca were beaten by Malaga but Zabaleta insists that one game isn’t representative of La Blaugrana.

“It will be a tough game. We’re confident of a better result than last year,” the former Espanyol defender said.

“There were doubts after the Christmas break and problems between the Coach and some players. But football is about now and nothing more.

“They recovered quickly and put together a run of wins that put them a point behind Real Madrid. The defeat at home to Malaga doesn’t mean they’re in bad form. They’re in good form but lost.

“We needed to show we could control the game and move the ball [against Newcastle]. The five goals give confidence to the team. For us it was a very important result.

“One game doesn’t change anything. We still believe that we will face the best team in Europe, with great players. They have perhaps the best forwards in the world. We need to be good physically.

“We have to do a remarkable job defensively and not allow any of the three to create chances. They are the players that make the difference, the best strikers in the world.

“This attack is the envy of many. We’ll try to have a good defensive game, with an organised and concentrated block.

“Luis Suarez? He’s one of the best in the world. Perhaps at Liverpool he played as a single reference. He shared space with [Daniel] Sturridge and [Raheem] Sterling but he was the most important attacker.

“It’s his first year at Barca and everyone needs a period of adaptation. Beyond that, he’s not getting the same number of goals as Lionel Messi or Neymar, but he’s contributed a lot.

“He showed against Levante the other day what quality he has. He’s sure to be prominent.”

Tags Manchester City Pablo Zabaleta
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