Roberto Mancini Manchester City’s trip to Real Madrid on Tuesday represents one of the most difficult assignments of his managerial reign as he considers recalling Sergio Agüero for the Champions League test at the Bernabéu.
By Andy Hunter
The former Atlético Madrid striker has been absent since damaging knee ligaments in the opening league game of the season against Southampton and did not feature in the 1-1 draw at Stoke City on Saturday.
The 24-year-old was withheld at the Britannia Stadium as a precaution, the manager later revealed, and could be available for the opening Champions League group game in the Spanish capital.
Mancini also withdrew Carlos Tevez after 63 minutes against Stoke, to keep the forward fresh for Real.
“Sergio will travel with us,” confirmed the City manager. “He worked with the team in the last three days. We didn’t want to take any risks against Stoke but maybe for Madrid he will be ready. I think he can have a chance.”
City failed to progress from the Champions League group stage last season and are in a daunting groupcompany this term, with Borussia Dortmund and Ajax also in Group D.
Despite the individual Champions League experience at his disposal, and the confidence born of winning City’s first league title for 44 years last season, Mancini concedes that a gulf exists between his team and José Mourinho’s Spanish champions.
“In this moment we are not at the same level as Real Madrid,” he said. “I think we have good players and we are working for this. W e want to improve but we can’t say this now. We have a good team but we need to work and improve.
“When you play Champions League every team is a top team. Every game is difficult. If you play against Real or Barça you are up against 100 years of history. They won everything. For this reason, I think it will be very difficult. Like last year, we again start on a difficult [ground] against a top team. We should be ready for it to be very difficult because they have fantastic players, a fantastic history and, if we want to do well there, we need to play very, very well.”
The City manager expects his team to respond to the occasion, however, and believes a repeat of last season’s 10 points in the group stage will be sufficient to qualify for the knockout phase .
“This will be a fantastic moment for everyone – the club, the players and the supporters,” he added.
“Our mentality is to want to win, but we know it will be a tough game. We won’t go to Madrid, or anywhere, for a draw or to lose. We made some mistakes in the group stage last year but we still got 10 points. If we get the same points this year, I think we will go through.”
