FA Cup is certainly a good platform to see all the best European clubs fighting each other for a supreme spot, and when it comes to decide who is the ruling king across Europe, Barcelona is obviously much above in the rankings. Though, some English clubs are also not far away, but there is always an iota of doubt about who would offer a stiff competition to the La Liga Champions. Yes, we are talking about upcoming showdown between two heavyweights Manchester City and Barcelona who are going to meet in FA Cup. Samir Nasri, the 26-year-old French international, who plays for the English club is optimistic that they can offer a tough fight to their Spanish rival; in fact, he bets that this high profile team is more beatable these days than ever. You can call it a side effect of whatever is happening inside the Barca team, but this is a reality that their internal dissents have led their goodwill down. Actually, Nasri is out of the game for his knee injuries that he sustained in January, therefore, he doesn’t know if he can make it to play in some highly awaited upcoming FA Cup matches, including that of against Chelsea and Blaugrana.
He credits City’s significant improvement to newly appointed and admired Chilean football manager Manuel Pellegrini who shaped them perfectly to become one of the forward liners in English topflight this season. Though, Nasri missed significant period off his injury, he wants to recover as soon as possible to better charge his batteries for remaining season this year. He talked about his fitness and how he sees next week clashes and said, “I’ve missed a month-and-a-half of competition. It’s allowed me to recharge my batteries. With City, we’re still in four competitions with the aim of winning them. In the Champions League, we are going to have an exciting game against Barca. For me, they are more beatable than in the past. Personally, I think we can knock them out. If our injured players are back, with a full team, I think we can beat them.”
Former Marseille and Arsenal man further explained how comfortable he is playing under Pellegrini guidance and added, “I get on very well with Manuel Pellegrini. He understands me. I need affection. He gives me all that. He gave me that confidence again. He made me understand that I was once more an important player for the team. On the pitch, he gives me quite a lot of freedom. So I try to repay that faith as much as possible.”