Mancini left disappointed by Euro flop

A 1-0 loss to Dortmund keeps City winless and out of the Europa League

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini was disappointed the English champion failed to qualify for the Europa League after its 1-0 loss against Borussia Dortmund in its final Champions League group match on Tuesday.

City's abject display against a second string Dortmund side - which topped the group, while the English champion finished bottom - saw it become the first English side to finish a Champions League group stage with just three points and without a victory.

"Getting into the Europa League was our target tonight," said Mancini, who in his two previous seasons has guided City to first the FA Cup and then last term the Premier League title.

"We wanted to win, but to win we needed to score. We are not in the Europa League and for this we should be disappointed.

"We were in a tough group, but if you make mistakes in early games, as we did, you will not qualify."

City keeper Joe Hart, who was probably the team's best player on the night, said it was the same old story for his side, and he doesn't know the answer to the problem.

"There was a hunger to win tonight, and if that meant Europa League then great," said Hart, who made a series of great saves to keep the scoreline respectable. "But we have got bigger issues than that. We were up against a weakened team and we had to win. We should be fighting to go through to the last 16 on the last day and we have only got ourselves to blame that we are not."

With its European season over, City will now focus entirely on defending its Premier League crown with the huge Manchester derby against leader United next up on Sunday.

"It will help (in the Premier League) because we are not in the Europa League, but at the moment we cannot think about this," said Mancini, whose team is three points behind United.

"Sunday will be different for sure, it will be a very tough game but we will recover some players."

Hart, meanwhile, doesn't think the European flop will have an impact on the Premier League campaign.

"We have been fantastic in the league so there is no worries on that front," he said.

"We have been consistent. Hopefully we can win the league and be back (in the Champions League) next year."

Dortmund's journey in the Champions League continues after a huge campaign already - ending unbeaten in the group on 14 points.

"We didn't think we would take 14 points though I knew that we would be a tough out. But to win games against those types of teams is amazing," said coach Jurgen Klopp.

"There are still great teams left in the Champions League. But I think we have earned some respect. You can't just look past us. We definitely are looking forward to what comes next."

City striker Edin Dzeko said the rest of the teams in the knockout stages should not be looking forward to facing Dortmund.

"They are a great team. Are they favorites, I don't know. But the way they played in this group against some great teams, they have a chance," Dzeko said.

(China Daily 12/06/2012 page24)