David Silva: Manchester City need to use inspiration from PSG to overcome Barcelona

DAVID SILVA has urged Manchester City to take encouragement from the heroics of Schalke and Paris St Germain as they bid to pull off a Champions League mission impossible here.

00:10, Tue, Mar 17, 2015 | UPDATED: 06:43, Tue, Mar 17, 2015

David Silva GETTY

David Silva is backing his team to overcome Barcelona

Few people will give City much of a chance of overturning a 2-1 first leg deficit against La Liga leaders Barcelona in the Nou Camp tomorrow – especially in their current form.

Beaten at lowly Burnley on Saturday, City have been in a tail spin since the turn of the year, winning only three of their last 11 games in all competitions, a run that has brought intense scrutiny on manager Manuel Pelegrini’s future.

But Spain international Silva insists that despite their problems City have to remain positive and need only to look at Schalke’s unexpected 4-3 win over Real Madrid in the Bernabeu last Tuesday plus PSG’s triumph against Chelsea 24 hours later – when the French club played with 10 men for most of the match – to believe they can pull it off.

“Everybody wrote Schalke off before they played Real Madrid,” said former Valencia star Silva.

“But they won 4-3 and could have scored again which would have put them through – nobody predicted that.

“And not many thought PSG would knock out Chelsea, especially with only 10 men for so long so I know that everything can happen, not only in the Champions League but in every game.

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“Everyone is expecting Barca to go through but hopefully we can give a strong performance. We don’t have any kind of pressure on us because we are behind and playing away.”

City have already proved they are capable of upsetting the odds in the Champions League this season when they beat Bayern Munich at home and Roma away in their final two group games to scramble through to the last 16 after looking set for their third group stage exit in four seasons.

Silva says City need to replicate the concentration and discipline they showed in those two games to avoid exiting Europe’s top club competition to Barcelona at the last 16 hurdle for the second year running.

“We need the kind of mentality we showed in those games,” he said.

“The most important thing is not to concede a goal because obviously things then become more difficult. Last season we played well in the second leg against Barca in the Nou camp. We played with freedom so we will see.”

A year ago City lost 2-0 at home in the first leg and 2-1 in the second.