• Premier League

PL was always priority - De Jong

Ahead of Manchester City's clash with Chelsea, Nigel de Jong says: 'You have to beat them to become Premier League winners' © Getty Images

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Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong claims the club must quickly shrug off their disappointing exit from the Champions League to focus on their No. 1 target: the Premier League title.

City's debut campaign in Europe's flagship competition came to an end on Wednesday when they failed to progress from Group A, finishing in third place behind Bayern Munich and Napoli to drop into the Europa League.

But Dutch midfielder De Jong insists lifting the Premier League trophy was always City's top target for this season and the club are on course to do just that as they hold a five-point lead over second place Manchester United.

Reflecting on City's Champions League exit, De Jong said: "We won't be affected by this setback. Winning the league will make up for this. We didn't go through in the Champions League but we can't let that distract us from our main target - and that's winning the Premier League. We are still in with a chance of four cups. We are not despairing about the season because it's still early.

"It's the first year City were in the Champions League and expectations were high. But in the group expectations weren't so high because our main target was still the Premier League title."

City return to domestic action on Monday night in a high-profile clash with a resurgent Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and De Jong thinks the match will provide a good indicator of City's title-winning potential.

"You have to beat them to become Premier League winners," De Jong said. "They are still title contenders and still up there."

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