Danilo insists Manchester City cannot allow the disappointment of their capitulation against Manchester United to fester given the scale of their Champions League challenge against Liverpool.
Things have gone awry for Pep Guardiola’s swashbuckling side in recent days, with Wednesday’s shock 3-0 Champions League quarter-final loss at Anfield compounded by an astonishing 3-2 derby defeat on Saturday.
Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan goals put City on course for a victory that would seal the Premier League title, only for United to return reinvigorated from half-time and act as party poopers thanks to Paul Pogba’s brace and a Chris Smalling volley.
Danilo was unable to prevent Manchester City from defeat against rivals Manchester United
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‘Well, without doubt the atmosphere, the feeling, is of sadness, of disappointment,’ full-back Danilo said of the dressing room.
‘We started the game really well, but we must return to the pitch as soon as possible because on Tuesday we have another big challenge to overcome a result.
‘Without any doubt (the City fans were great). We need to thank them all.
‘Not just for today but all the season, but especially the atmosphere they created today was amazing.
‘They helped us until the last minute and I am sure they could help us a lot against Liverpool if they are able to create that atmosphere again and try to help us to overcome the result.’
Tuesday’s quarter-final second leg against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium is going to be an uphill battle for City, with recovering a three-goal deficit tough enough before factoring in the impact of a potential away goal.
It will also be an interesting mental test for City after wasting the chance to win the Premier League and conceding three goals in a second successive match – the first time that has happened in Guardiola’s managerial career.
‘Well, I could tell you many, many reasons why we didn’t win today,’ Danilo told CityTV.
The defender hopes that his side will be able to muster a response against Liverpool
‘It could be missing chances but at the end of the day they scored three goals, we scored two and that’s all that counts.
‘But we must be together. When we win, we win together and when we lose, we lose together.
‘We need to keep going and (keep) the heads up.’
Asked whether it was a case of United being that much better in the second half or tiredness from Anfield creeping into the City side, the Brazil international retorted: ‘I don’t agree with you because if you see the statistics of the game, you analyse the game, we had the ball possession, we had the control.
‘They just used the long balls, they scored three goals and that all happened today.
‘We played the same way we done all the season, we kept the same level of performance, but today it didn’t work.’