Hart relieved at City's great escape

His heroics might have earned him the man of the match award but goalkeeper Joe Hart admitted that the point Manchester City FC snatched against Borussia Dortmund was one they barely deserved. Hart's efforts earned praise from team-mate Pablo Zabaleta and Dortmund players whose own display provides plenty of encouragement for their upcoming double-header with Real Madrid CF, despite the frustration of seeing Marco Reus's strike cancelled out by Mario Balotelli's late penalty. "We talked to a couple of guys from Man City and they said no opponents have created so many problems for them," said defender Neven Subotić.

Joe Hart, City goalkeeper
We got a point against one our rivals to qualify for the group and potentially maybe we shouldn't have. We've not played great tonight and they have played well and we've come out with a point; hopefully we can move forward with that. It's nice to make saves, it is not something I have to do a great deal at City but when required I try to step in and I was required a few times tonight.

They're a fantastic team for a pot four side in our group [and] it shows what a group we're in; what a tough task but you have to enjoy it. If we get through we [deserve] a big pat on our back but it's going to be hard. We looked to win tonight but sometimes you have to take what you're given and it's going to be a big game at Ajax.

Pablo Zabaleta, City defender
Every home game is important to win but we were up against a team who played really well. It was a game where both teams had chances and in the end a point is better than nothing. With their style of play [Dortmund] work well across the pitch and are very mobile, they've got quality too and overall they were better than us. Joe Hart was fantastic, he showed he's one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now. We have to thank him for the performance he gave.

Neven Subotić, Dortmund defender
As a team we were great, nobody really anticipated that we could create so many problems for City. There were a lot of chances for both teams and due to the amount of chances the best player was the goalkeeper – Joe Hart saved a lot of chances and that speaks [volumes] for us because we created a lot of great chances and in any other match would have scored more than one goal.

I was involved in the [handball offence] that created the equaliser and am devastated because we were so close to getting those three points and it would have been a little miracle for us. We talked to a couple of guys from City and they said no opponents have created so many problems for them; that is a compliment for us. I don't think Man City and Real Madrid are too far apart, they're both world-class teams . We showed what we could do [and] we'll try to take what we did today and finish a little bit better; hopefully we can put that on the pitch against Madrid.

Roman Weidenfeller, Dortmund goalkeeper
We deserved to get the three points and [conceding] at the end was a blow we didn't deserve. Joe Hart has saved his team two points and I congratulate him on his performance. We don't need to fear anybody; we still have a great chance to get through although we're very disappointed we got just one point.