Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Yaya Toure: We must beat Dortmund

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has declared that Wednesday night's tie against Borussia Dortmund is a "massive” must-win game for the club after losing its opening Champions League group game 3-2 to Real Madrid.

The energetic Ivorian revealed that last year's campaign - in which the Premier League champion failed to qualify from the group stages - was a "disaster" for the club.

Despite disappointment in the opening game this year, the 29-year-old former Barcelona player believes his side can follow in the footsteps of rivals Manchester United and Chelsea and win the European crown this season.

"Hopefully it is going to be a massive game for us. Borussia Dortmund are a fantastic team. They work very hard in attack and defense and we know it is going to be tough and we have to deliver," he told reporters. "Our last campaign was a disaster. We want to change that. Look at our rivals, Chelsea and Manchester United. They have appeared in a final and this year I hope we can go far and even win it.
"The first year was quite hard. This can be massive for us to get to the second round. We know we are in a tough group and we have to get a good result."
City finds itself in Group G against a trio of domestic champions in Jose Mourinho's Madrid, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund. However, Toure is eager to please the home fans by beating the Germans on Wednesday evening.
"In our life we know what we have to do but we understand the position we are in because we lost in Madrid," he said. "Now we are playing the first game in the Champions League at home and we want to show our fans what we can do and produce a good result. With a team like this we can go very far in the competition."
Italian boss Roberto Mancini queried the seeding process, as City has yet to pick up enough coefficient points to be included in the first pot of the seeding process despite winning the Premier League title last season.
"Arsenal are seeded above you and you find yourself with three champions. This is the Champions League and for this reason, it is difficult," Mancini said. "We have won our championship and we are facing the best teams in Germany, Spain and Holland. Sometimes when you play in the Champions League you should also be lucky with the draw.
"It is important to get into the second stage because after that anything can happen because we are a good team."

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