• Champions League

Mancini: I don't fear City axe

ESPN staff
November 22, 2012

Roberto Mancini insists he does not fear for his job after Manchester City failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League for a second season in succession.

Chelsea's 3-0 defeat to Juventus on Tuesday night saw Roberto Di Matteo sacked by the Blues, but Mancini insists he will not face a similar fate because his superiors understand that it would be unrealistic to expect City to win the Champions League after only two seasons in the competition.

"I don't have fear for this," Mancini said after his side's 1-1 draw at home to Real Madrid. "Everyone here knows football. The season is long. You have the Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League.

"If we think we can win the Champions League after only two years we are crazy. Chelsea tried to win it for 10 years and in their best moment they didn't win. We need to be patient for this, we need to improve our team."

However, Madrid boss Jose Mourinho aimed a swipe at Mancini by saying that he would not expect to keep his job if his side had failed to qualify for the last-16.

"In this group we knew from the beginning a big team [would go] out and it is good it is City because Roberto can work without any problem," he said. "If it was Real, the press wouldn't let me return to Madrid.

"It is incredible that you look at the array of players they have got that they have been eliminated in the group stages two years running."

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