Ajax Amsterdam 3-1 Manchester City
Coach Roberto Mancini reacts:
“I think that they played better than us, they played better football, it’s probably my fault because I didn’t prepare the players well for this game and I take the fault for this defeat,” Mancini said.
“I thought it would be one way but it was different. When you prepare for a game, you think it could go a certain way, but instead it was a different game.”
Mancini was pleased that his team created enough chances to win the game but revealed that they need to be more clinical to succeed in the tournament.
“We had most chances to score and in the Champions League you need to score, also when you don’t play well,” he said.
“We have a lot of problems with players being injured, but I repeat, in my opinion it’s my fault we lost today.”
After City conceded the third goal, Mancini reverted to his experimental three at the back formation for five minutes before going back to four in defence.
“We changed for five minutes when we wanted to have a player in the hole, only for five minutes but on the pitch we are always eleven players,” Mancini explained.
“Three, four, five, six, seven, it’s not important, if someone wants to use this as an excuse, that’s ok, but it’s not important.
“When you play you should be strong, there is one tactic – just run and score.”
The Italian refused to accept that it was impossible for City to qualify from Group D but did concede that it would be miraculous for the Blues to reach the second round from this position.
“I think it is very difficult and I think it would need something close to a miracle. We play football, we know we can play a bad game like tonight and we can lose, but the season is long and we have a lot of important games,” he concluded.
