Roberto Mancini targeting Europa League success with Manchester City ahead of Porto tie

The Italian plans to field a strong line-up to secure a place in the last-16, and is confident Mario Balotelli will not be affected after alleged racist abuse in the first-leg

21 Feb 2012 14:05:00

By Shane Farrington

More On :  Manchester City, Porto, Mario Balotelli, Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini, Manchester City
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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes winning the Europa League this season would be an important stepping-stone as the club look to establish themselves as European giants.

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The English side are favourites to progress to the last-16 stage of the competition after an impressive second-half display saw them comeback from a goal down to grab a precious 2-1 away at Estadio do Dragao.

The Italian boss also revealed his plans to field as strong side as possible on Thursday, with the aim to lift the trophy in May.

“For us, every game is serious and we want to win every match,” Mancini told reporters. “If we win the Europa League it would be an important moment for the club - I don't think it will be easy but we will try.

“Every game is dangerous for different reasons, but it is better start with a 2-1 lead, but I think it's important to think that it is 0-0 start.

“I was very pleased with the win in Porto and think we played really well in both halves, particularly in the second half when we defended well and created a lot of chances.

“We will play our normal game on Wednesday but it is vital every player works hard for the team and if we are to have players like [Samir] Nasri, [David] Silva, [Sergio] Aguero or [Mario] Balotelli in our starting line-up, every player has to work hard and defend when they need to or else we can't play with so many attacking players.”

Blues duo Mario Balotelli and Yaya Toure were allegedly subjected to racist abuse from sections of the crowd during the first-leg clash in Portugal, prompting the Premier League leaders to lodge a complaint to Uefa.

However Mancini is confident Balotelli’s on-field display will not be affected, adding:
“Mario is strong and he doesn't let things upset him too much. Unfortunately it has happened before in Italy and in France but he is strong.

“I was concentrating on the game so I didn't really hear anything, but there are some not very clever people in the world and these things are still happening.”

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