The Manchester city midfielder James Milner has said that it is about time the club started to perform well in the European competitions after dominating the domestic league for the last two seasons. Manchester city may have won the Premier league title for the first time in more than 40 years last season, but they have been disappointing in Europe under the manager Roberto Mancini. They have failed to get past the group stages of the Champions League last season, while they are in danger of repeating the same feat this time around as well. The 3-1 defeat against Ajax last week meant that Manchester city have just one point from the first three matches.
Given that will be facing against clubs like Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in the remaining three matches, it looks highly unlikely that they will be able to qualify for the last 16 stage. Not progressing from the group stages this time around as well will mean disastrous consequences for the team because they will not gain any seeding positions for the next Champions league draw. After the end of the Ajax match, the Manchester city midfielder James Milner has called for better performances from the players in Europe.
“Although the score was 3-1 we had enough chances to score more goals, but we weren’t clinical enough. We need to make sure there is not pressure on the strikers to score in every game. Goals have got to come from all over the park. When you are playing in the Champions League and you get chances you have to take them. If you have spirit you have the quality to play Champions League,” said the former Newcastle and Aston Villa midfielder. City will also know how to deal with the injury to the defender Micah Richards.