Man City defender admits playing against Liverpool was a mistake

Sagna was far from his best as Liverpool scored four at the Etihad

BACARY SAGNA has admitted he should not have played for Manchester City after the Paris terrorist attacks.

 

Sagna and fellow defender Eliaquim Mangala - who were both in the France squad in the Stade de France on the night of the horror - had nightmare games as City crashed to their shock 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool.

Former Arsenal player Sagna thought he was mentally and physically right to play before the game but believes a harrowing week, when he also played for France in their emotionally-charged friendly at Wembley on Tuesday, caught up with him on Saturday.

He said: "It was not easy to be part of that event [Paris]. I was feeling down and it was quite difficult to play. Personally, it's not been my best week.

 

"Mentally and physically I believed I was ok to play. But I wasn't. I tired quite quickly and didn't have as much power as I usually do."

Sagna's mistake led to Liverpool's first goal - an own goal by Mangala - and he said it preyed on his mind.

He added: "I felt guilty [about the goal]. I should have kept my head up but I was too upset. I was thinking about what happened and I shouldn't have.

"I don't want to blame the team or the defensive changes we made. I look at myself first and I was bad."

 

Sagna played for France against England, but feels he should have sat out City's game

Sagna and Mangala will almost certainly be rested for City's Champions League game against Juventus on Wednesday with Pablo Zabaleta and Nicolas Otamendi ready to step in.

Romelu Lukaku has revealed concerns about his safety and that of his family in the wake of the security threat in his native Belgium.

The Everton striker has an apartment in the Molenbeek municipality of Brussels, which has been described as 'Jihad Central', but says he will now look to move "as soon as possible."

Brussels has been in lockdown over the weekend amid fears of a "serious and imminent threat" from terrorists and the situation is forcing Lukaku to reassess his own situation.

 

"I live in Brussels and I live where the police are doing a lot of the things," said Lukaku. "I have had an apartment in Molenbeek for six years now and it is a nice neighbourhood. It is calm and stuff.

"But with the things happening there now it is a bit difficult. I never saw any trouble, but now we are going to move as soon as possible."

Lukaku regularly returns to Belgium and said: "From the national team, 30-40 players come from Brussels and a few others from Molenbeek.

"It has been a shock because now at the moment the safety is the highest level of security.

"At the moment, all of my family are over here. Obviously we will try and move as soon as possible. You just want your family to be safe."