Roberto Mancini:
Manchester City manager's
record in Europe By Frank Keogh
BBC Sport Manchester City manager
Roberto Mancini's record in
Europe has come under scrutiny
as he faces another early
Champions League exit. Despite a career littered with
domestic success, the Italian has
never guided a side beyond the
competition's quarter-finals in six
previous attempts - with City
and Italian clubs Lazio and Inter Milan. Here we look at Mancini's
managerial record in Europe and
analyse what has gone wrong. Mancini in Champions
League Mancini's sides in Champions
League 2003-4: Lazio. Out atgroup stage. Lost home and away to Chelsea 2004-05: Inter Milan. Beaten inquarter-finals by local rivals AC Milan. 2005-06: Lost on away goals to Villarreal.Quarter- finals. 2006-07 Beaten on away goals by Valencia inlast 16. 2007-08 Knocked out by Liverpool.Last 16. 2011-12 Manchester City. Third in group which included
eventual finalists Bayern
Munich.Group stage. 2012-13. Facing exit from
group which includes Real
Madrid.Group stage? Mancini conceded City's
Champions League ambitions
were effectively "finished" after
a2-2 home draw with Ajax on Tuesday. City have two points from four
matches and must win their two
remaining games against Borussia
Dortmund and Real Madrid to
have any hope of going through. If they fail to qualify, it would be
the third time Mancini has
managed a side which has exited
at the group stage. He has twice
gone out in the last 16, and
made it to the quarter-finals on two occasions. How was he viewed in Italy? Mancini guided Inter Milan to
three successive league titles
but could not take them beyond
the last eight in Europe. He did reach the semi-finals of
the Uefa Cup with Lazio in 2003
before they were knocked out
by Porto - then managed by
Jose Mourinho - who went on to
reach the final and beat Celtic. While he suffered four
consecutive exits in the early
knockout stages with Inter,
three were clouded in
controversy. The 2005 defeat by AC Milan was
marred by crowd trouble with
flares thrown on to the pitch by
fans in the second leg. Although
Inter were already 3-0 down on
aggregate, the tie was abandoned and awarded to their
arch-rivals. In both of the following years,
Inter were knocked out on away
goals. Villarreal scored a dubious
late goal in 2006 while an ugly
brawl followed their 2007 exit in
Valencia. Mancini v Mourinho
Champions League
managerial records MANCINI - Best: Quarter- finals Lazio P 6 W 1 D 2 L 3 Win % 16.7 (2002-04) Inter Milan P 36 W 19 D 8 L 9 Win %52.8 (2004-08) Man City P 10 W 3 D 3 L 4 Win %30 (2009-) Total win %44.2 MOURINHO Best: Won twice Porto P 17 W 8 D 5 L 4Win % 47.1% (2002-04) Chelsea P 33W 16 D 9 L 8 Win %48.5 (2004-07) Inter P 21 W 10 D 6 L 5Win % 47.6 (2008-10) Real Madrid P 28 W 20 D 5 L 3Win % 71.4 (2011-) Total win % 54.5 "There was a sense that
something screwy always
happened to mess him up and he
did reach the Uefa Cup semi-
finals with a not very good Lazio
side," says Italian football expert Gabrielle Marcotti. Two years after Mancini left,
Inter won the Champions League
under Mourinho. "If you look at Mourinho's record
in the Champions League at
Inter, he actually got more stick
initially because they were
terrible in the group stages, but
then things picked up," adds Marcotti. "Mancini's football was more
expansive, a passing game, while
Mourinho brought more counter-
attacking and long balls. Six of
the guys who started for
Mourinho in that final had been with Mancini, but the front four
was entirely new. "I would say Mancini was admired
as a a manager in Italy but not
someone who was universally
adored." What do Manchester City
fans think? Despite the prospect of a multi-
million pound squad going out at
the Champions League group
stage for the second year
running, many fans appear to be
behind Mancini. "He won the Premier League last
year and the FA Cup the year
before. We are not playing well,
but we've had quite a few
injuries," says Tommy Muir,
secretary of the Cheadle branch of the Manchester City
Supporters' Club. "There's an over-reaction
because of the result on
Tuesday night. We are
undefeated with six wins and
four draws in the Premier
League. Play media Mancini criticises 'poor' officials "There is a problem in Europe. We
are not quite used to the way
the opposition play - and if you
give the best players in Europe a
sniff, they will take the chance.
We are attacking teams and they are just breaking away and
scoring." City have been transformed
since a takeover by wealthy
owner Sheikh Mansour four
years ago. The FA Cup win in
2011 was their first trophy for
35 years, and they are in the Champions League for only the
second time. "People have got to live in the
real world and think about
where we've come from and how
long success has taken other
teams," adds Muir. "We are only in the third year of
being a massive club. It's a case
of bedding in players who might
not get on together straight
away. It's a learning curve" What can Mancini change? City need to tighten up at the
back and develop a mentality
suited to getting results in
Europe, says their former striker
Darius Vassell. "With the players they have,
they should definitely be doing
better. In Europe they don't
have an identity at the
moment," says the ex-England
international. Mancini as a player Won the 1990 European Cup
Winners' Cup and was a
European Cup finalist with
Sampdoria two years later Won the 1999 Uefa Cup with
Lazio "They need to have a base
defensively, and be more secure
at the back. Rather than the
end-to-end stuff we are used to
in the Premier League, maybe
they need to shut up shop in Europe knowing they have got
the players that are going to
score goals. "If it's 0-0 at half time and they
have attacking players on the
bench, they are going to have a
chance against any team." Is experience an issue? Mancini has pointed to his side's
lack of European experience, but
while some English clubs have
struggled in their first two
Champions League seasons,
others have thrived. Manchester United, Newcastle
and Arsenal failed to get past
the group stages, but Chelsea
and Liverpool made the last
eight in their first season. Leeds
reached the semi-finals at the first attempt, as did Chelsea in
their second appearance. "Manchester City are a bit
inexperienced playing together in
Europe and the mistakes they've
made are things they have to
learn from very quickly," says
Vassell. "This is a learning period for the
players, the staff, the
management team. They should
on paper be doing a lot better
than they have done." City's current side does include
Carlos Tevez, who lifted the
Champions League with
Manchester United in 2008, and
Yaya Toure, a winner with
Barcelona 12 months later. Is Mancini's position under
threat? City recently appointed former
Barcelona technical director Txiki
Begiristain as their director of
football, joining new chief
executive Ferran Soriano, who
was also at Barca. It has prompted speculation
linking the club with Pep
Guardiola, who quit the Spanish
side in June and is considering his
next move. "I don't think right now City
believe there is a better option
than Mancini before the end of
the season," says Marcotti. "Guardiola is the shadow hanging
over everybody, but he might
not make up his mind up until
March or April at the earliest
about what he's going to do -
and there will be a lot of competition. "The biggest mistake a club could
make is to say 'We are going to
wait for Pep.' You don't know
what he wants to do, where he's
going and it's not 100% that he
will be better than what you already have."
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