ROBERTO MANCINI admits he must improve his Champions League record — but has stressed how tough the competition is.
The Manchester City manager sees his side take on German giants Borussia Dortmund tomorrow night at the Etihad.
It is the second fixture in their Champions League ‘Group of Death’, having lost to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu two weeks ago and with Ajax also in the mix.
Mancini, who could only reach the quarter-finals with previous club Inter Milan, saw City fail to make the knockout stages in their debut season last year.
But while he hopes to improve on that, the Italian has stressed the tournament does not represent a personal Achilles heel.
He said: “I don’t need to learn, the Champions League is a difficult competition.
“The football is the same, it is still 11 versus 11.
“But you are playing against the best teams from other countries.
“I hope I can improve my record in the Champions League.
“I think that we can win the Champions League. But in this moment we are in a difficult group, the worst this year.
“We want to get to the next stage but it will be difficult.”
Mancini insists he bears no grudge over the tournament seeding system, despite his Premier League champions having been drawn from the third pot and plunged into the hardest pool.
He added: “It’s the Champions League for this reason — it is difficult.
“We are with the best teams of Germany, Spain and Holland. Sometimes you need to be lucky with the draw.
“For us, it is important to reach the second stage.
“After that anything can happen because we’re a good team.”
The Sun
