Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique, says Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, likes to play attacking football, and believes Neymar’s arrival has taken focus away off Lionel Messi. City welcome Barcelona to the Etihad Stadium for the first leg in the Champions League last-16 on Tuesday, before traveling to Camp Nou for the return leg on March 12. Pique is not surprised at the way the free- scoring Premier League club have taken to life under the Chilean, having witnessed Pellegrini’s work during his time in La Liga. “Pellegrini always liked to play like this. I remember when he was here in Spain with Malaga and Real (Madrid) before he always liked to play attacking football,” Pique said. “I knew when he signed for City he would try to play like this. “I think he has good quality players with David Silva, (Sergio) Aguero – you know, they can have the ball, have the possession. They’re having a good season.” The 26-year-old also believes that the arrival of Brazil ‘wonderkid’, Neymar, has taken focus off their superstar, Lionel Messi, and that the Blaugrana have a lot of quality amongst all their attacking players. “(Neymar) is really young, he’s got a lot of hunger to show to the world that he is right for Barcelona and that he’s one of the best players in the word,” he continued. “His quality, his skills, his goals, have added a lot to the team and at the same time maybe he takes a little bit of the focus. “Everything was on Messi, with everyone trying to stop him. Now we have another way. “Ok, if it’s not Messi’s day, we have Neymar, we have Pedro, we have Alexis (Sanchez), we have a lot of quality in the striker area, and I think that’s really good for the team.” The Spaniard then turned his focus to his former club, Manchester United, and believes the Red Devils will soon be back to their best. “They will. It’s a new coach, after nearly 30 years,” he added. “Sir Alex Ferguson had some players with him for 10 years and now they have to adapt. Then next season will be another year. “The situation has changed. United are having a difficult time, and City, because of all the money they have, have a great, great team and are fighting for the league.” Barcelona have scored 111 goals in all competitions this season whilst Manchester City have even scored 117. But which of the two side’s has the better attacking options?
Posted on: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 16:06:06 +0000
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