Mancini: Champions League not important

Even though the vast majority of managers in European football place a huge amount of attention on the Champions League, it appears as though Roberto Mancini is not part of this cult. Just one day after City suffered another defeat in the competition, Mancini has told the press that the competition is overrated – and even likened it to green tea!

While City are most certainly in one of the most challenging groups of the Champions League, there’s no doubt that supporters are incredibly disappointed at the poor display in the competition. The club have picked up just one point from three games and with just three games remaining, qualification looks extremely doubtful considering the fact that the team are now bottom of the group. Being five points adrift from Real Madrid, who are now 2nd, is difficult at the best of times, not least when there is such a small amount of time to make up the margin.

Mancini basically admitted last night that the club’s chances of Champions League glory were over for another season. He went as far as saying it would take a miracle for qualification to occur and he has now surpassed those comments in his latest interview. Speaking to the press, the Italian said, “Anyone who really knows football knows that the Champions League isn’t important. It’s all about who has less money and does not reflect the modern game at all.

Winning it probably feels terrible. It’s overrated. Like green tea. And scoring goals. Who wants a tournament where better tactics and actually trying to defend on set pieces is rewarded? And where clubs aren’t instantly successful after spending hundreds of millions of pounds? It’s just not fair. Why should I care about beating a club from a place I’ve never heard of like ‘Amsterdam’ or ‘Borussia’? I shouldn’t and I don’t.”