Thursday, September 15, 2011

Mancini: We were nervous

Roberto Mancini expects an improved performance in Manchester City's next Champions League match versus Bayern Munich after admitting his charges were nervous against Napoli.

City made their Champions League bow at home to Napoli on Wednesday night, claiming a 1-1 draw versus their Serie A opponents after Aleksandar Kolarov's free-kick cancelled out Edinson Cavani's opening goal.

Mancini's men are next in European action on September 27 when they travel to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, who opened their Group A account with a 2-0 win over Villarreal, and the Italian coach is predicting a more accomplished display at the Allianz Arena.

He said: "I think we can do better in Munich because it is the second game. This game was important for us and I think we were nervous, all the club was so nervous.

"I think we played very well in the first half but in the first 15 minutes of the second half we conceded a lot of space to Naples. They were really dangerous and they scored a goal.

"A team like us can't concede goals like this. When we lost that goal we didn't have any midfielders in front of the defenders. I think it is important for us to play simple football. If we play simple I think we can play better, score goals and not concede any chances.

"For 10 minutes we left a lot of space for Napoli players. After that I was happy with our performance - as in the first half - when we played very well."

Of his side's point claimed away from home, Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri said: "I was very happy when we went 1-0 up and very happy with the team in the second half. We could have gone one further and won, which we were obviously all hoping for, but City are a great team."


By ESPNsoccernet staff

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