LIVERPOOL, England -- Kevin De Bruyne played down the Liverpool supporters' attack on the Manchester City bus on Wednesday, saying that he has seen such behaviour before.

City's team bus was caught up in a hostile welcome on the way to the grounds with bottles and missiles thrown at the coach as it arrived at Anfield before the 3-0 defeat against Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

"I already saw [things like this] before. It happens," De Bruyne said. "I don't think it's something bad.

"Obviously, it's not nice if you see windows breaking. That's not a good thing. But I think if supporters do that without being violent then I think it's OK."

Only two teams -- Barcelona and Deportivo La Coruna -- have progressed in the knockout stages after trailing by three goals or more since the Champions League era started in 1993.

De Bruyne is refusing to give up on the tie and said City have shown already this season that they are capable of scoring goals against the best.

Kevin De Bruyne acknowledged advancing to the semifinals of the Champions League will be difficult. Peter Byrne/PA Images

"It's not impossible, it's difficult. You never know. The way this team plays, everything is possible. But it's going to need something special," De Bruyne said.

"We know it's going to be difficult. We need to focus on Saturday [against Manchester United] and then we will try everything in our power to get a result against Liverpool.

"They are going to be the big favourites, but I think we have played a lot of games where it was possible to score three goals, so why not? But obviously, they have a big advantage."

De Bruyne is hoping that City can take inspiration from their home fans for the second leg just as Liverpool did from a raucous Anfield crowd in the first leg.

"It would be nice, obviously," he said. "It's difficult because the circumstances are different but we will be up for it.

"It's football. You never know what is going to happen. We have a lot of confidence in our qualities so we'll see.

"Probably they got a lot of inspiration from their fans. Hopefully we can have the same on Tuesday. First is Saturday, it's another game. Hopefully we can do well and win it."