Football
Kevin Palmer 9y

Manchester City's Joe Hart: I wanted performance vs. Barcelona to count

Manchester City keeper Joe Hart insisted he took no personal pleasure from his own heroic performance against Barcelona, as his side went out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage for a second successive season.

Hart pulled off a string of impressive stops as City lost 1-0 at the Nou Camp, with his first leg penalty save from Lionel Messi not proving to be decisive as the Catalan giants progressed to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 aggregate victory.

It was another Champions League disappointment for Premier League champions City and Hart was deflated when he offered his views on the match to Sky Sports.

"We have gone out to a magnificent side, but that is the second time in two years for us and that is disappointing for us," Hart said. "They are going to get a lot of plaudits for how they played, but we had a big chance and unfortunately we didn't take it.

"It was nice to save a penalty from Messi in the first leg, but I wanted it to count [in the outcome of the tie] and unfortunately it hasn't. We had a bit of a luck on our side at times and did our best to stay in it, but it was unfortunate for us in the end."

City midfielder James Milner lamented the missed penalty from Sergio Aguero that could have offered the Premier League side a route back into the tie in the final quarter of an hour, as he accepted the better side progressed over the two legs.

"It was a good chance for us," he said reflecting on Aguero's spot kick. "I think there was 15 minutes left and getting that goal would have helped, but that's football. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't. These ties are decided on those moments and unfortunately it didn't happen for us.

"We had a big chance and we didn't take it. They are a great team, but we didn't show our best over two legs. We stopped them playing in patches, but we didn't do enough to put them under pressure for long periods.

"We would have pressed them better for longer and when we had it, we didn't show our quality. We showed it in flashes, but in games against these sort of teams, you have to be at top level for 180 minutes."

Hart then issued a rallying call to his City teammates, who need to bounce back quickly and confirm they still have the stomach for the fight in a Premier League title race that has slipped away from them in recent weeks, with a game against West Browmich Albion at the Etihad Stadium next on their agenda this weekend.

"We will turn up on Saturday ready to go again," Hart added. "There are going to be tired people in our dressing room, but we have a fantastic squad here and we will be ready. The club that we are now, our sole purpose is the Premier League now."

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