Manchester City v Barcelona: 'City are a long way behind Barcelona,' says Neymar

Brazilian forward claims his opponents do not yet have enough European experience

James Orr
Tuesday 18 February 2014 17:39 GMT
Comments
Brazil forward Neymar trains before facing Manchester City
Brazil forward Neymar trains before facing Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini's free-scoring Manchester City may have scored 42 goals at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League this season, but for Barcelona forward Neymar, they are still some way away from becoming a European powerhouse.

City face their first ever Champions League knockout round fixture against Barca at home tonight, and while the Brazilian international is complementary of his opponents, he believes that they do not have enough experience in the competition yet to be considered an elite club.

"I have read the things about Manchester City beating Barcelona because of the amount of goals they are scoring in England - but I think the reality is that Manchester City are still a long way behind Barcelona," the 22-year-old told goal.com.

"They do have very good players - but we have much more experience in the competition.

"We will respect them - but if we concentrate and play the way we know we can - then I think we will progress."

Neymar has scored seven goals in 17 La Liga matches for Barca this season after signing from Santos over the summer, and has recently returned to Tata Martino's side after injuring his ankle last month.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in