Barca the benchmark, says boss

[Mark (Blue Army)]

Roberto Mancini enjoyed watching the midweek Champions League clash between Arsenal and Barcelona, but says his team need to improve if they want to be in a position to challenge the best in Europe next season.

With the Spanish giants threatening to overrun the Gunners at one point, Mancini was impressed with Arsenal’s fight-back to claim a 2-2 draw and believes the Blues need to set similar standards in the final few weeks of the campaign in order to clinch fourth place.

“Barcelona and Arsenal are both very good sides,” he said. “But for our part, we must improve a lot if we want to play Champions League football and enjoy occasions where we play sides of Barca’s quality regularly.

“If we want to think about playing those kind of matches, we first need to make sure we finish in fourth position and that is our focus.”

With Burnley this weekend and then Birmingham next Sunday, City then face title-chasing and Manchester United and Arsenal in successive games before taking on fellow Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa and Spurs at the City of Manchester Stadium .

However, whether it is a team from the top or bottom, Mancini says he is expecting every game to be tough at this stage of the season.

"I think if we want to improve as a
team, we have to test ourselves against
the best, but whether we beat a team
in the top four or the bottom four, the
fact is that we still only get three
points for the win"

“Generally, teams at the top of the table tend to be more attacking and play with width, while sides near the bottom look to close you down quickly and stop you playing with an accent more on defending and not getting beat. There are different obstacles to overcome in each case.”

Mancini is also aware goal difference could yet decide who finishes in fourth this season with Tottenham - thanks largely to their 9-1 win over Wigan earlier in the campaign -and Liverpool’s both superior to the Blues at present.

“We always try to win and score goals, but obviously goal difference could come into play on the final day,” he said.

“If we can, we hope to arrive at the end of the season at least one point ahead of Tottenham - or whoever we need to finish ahead of - but we are aware of what could happen and know each goal we score could make a difference to where we finish.”

mcfc.co.uk