Source: Team_Talk
Mancini confident of CL progress
Roberto Mancini believes City will reach the Champions League knockout phase despite picking up just a single point in their opening two games.[LNB] Although Tuesday night's loss to Bayern Munich has been completely overshadowed by the row involving Carlos Tevez, the 2-0 defeat has left City in an uncomfortable position.[LNB]With Bayern on a maximum six points and Napoli moving to four thanks to their win over Villarreal, who visit the Etihad Stadium for the next group game on October 18, Mancini's men suddenly have work in front of them.[LNB]And with Mario Balotelli still banned and Tevez highly unlikely to figure, City will approach their task with depleted striking resources.[LNB]However, Mancini is confident his side will collect their first three points. And he is also convinced they will eventually make their way into the last 16.[LNB]"We need another two months to improve in the Champions League," he admitted. "But I think we will go to the second stage."[LNB]What gives Mancini such confidence is the memory of Inter Milan's exploits during the 2006-07 campaign.[LNB]Then, Inter lost both their opening matches, including the second to Bayern, yet ended up qualifying with a match to spare after reeling off three straight wins.[LNB]Their advantage this time is that the second encounter with Bayern is the final group game in December, by which time it is anticipated the four-times winners will have qualified and may be lacking in motivation.[LNB]Mancini has hinted at a tactical rethink before then though.[LNB]Having shed the cautious approach that characterised his early months in charge of the Blues, Mancini felt his team were too open in the Allianz Arena.[LNB]It did not seem to matter in the opening half hour, when the visitors were dominant and had two plausible penalty claims turned down.[LNB]However, once Bayern got on top and Franck Ribery began weaving his magic, City were cut open far too easily.[LNB]Nigel de Jong did his best to stem the flow of attacks when he replaced Edin Dzeko and Mancini feels his team will need to temper their attacking instincts if they are to avoid such a scenario in the future.[LNB]"When you play against a team like Bayern Munich, who have such big experience in the Champions League, it can be difficult," said the City chief.[LNB]"We played very well for 30 minutes. But we also conceded two stupid goals.[LNB]"It is a lesson for me. We played more offensive.[LNB]"Maybe if we defend more it is better.[LNB]"We need 10 points to reach the second stage. When I was at Inter we lost the first two games. But we still did it.[LNB]"We are in the same situation again."
