Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna.PHOTO/courtesy
UNITED KINGDOM, May 10 – Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna has said that his side will only have themselves to blame if they finish outside of the top four and fail to qualify for the Champions League.
City, who sit in fourth place on the Premier League standings, are only two points ahead of Manchester United and will need the Red Devils to slip up in one of their last two matches-against West Ham United on Tuesday or Bournemouth on Sunday – if they are to have a chance of featuring in the Champions League next season.
Meanwhile, City who drew 2-2 with Arsenal on Sunday, will have to beat Swansea City on Sunday to boost their chances of finishing in the top four.
Sagna admitted his frustration with position City find themseleves in as they have been in the top four since the first day of the season – but that only they are responsible for the results which could see them miss out on Champions League football.
“It’s very disappointing especially after the way we started the season but we are to blame because we have everything in our hands to be the best,” he told reporters.
“I believe we can be the best team and if we play like we did [against Arsenal] then we are the best team but we have to play like this all season.
“But that is the past and now we’re going to have to keep our heads up and going to have to get three points [in the final game of the season].
“We gave a lot. Of course we’re not perfect, of course we could have done better but for me we deserve to be in the Champions League.”
Failure to secure a place in the Champions League will be even harder to swallow considering that City had their best-ever showing in Europe’s top tier competition this season, reaching the semi-finals before they were knocked out by Real Madrid.
With this in mind, Sagna is even more determined to once again turn out in the Champions League.
“It’s a big project to be part of, a big club to be part of,” he said. “We managed to reach the semifinal, which means we are quite a good team. So it’s vital for us to be part of the Champions League.”
