Champions League: Roberto Mancini not embarrassed by Man City early exit

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says he is not embarrassed by his team's terrible European campaign. Man City were already out of the Champions League before Tuesday's 1-0 defeat by Borussia Dortmund, but a win would have given them a Europa League spot. Their tally of just three points is the lowest by an English side in the group stage of the Champions League. "It can be embarrassing if you don't play at 100%. But when you do play 100%, you can lose," said Mancini. Last season Man City finished third in a group featuring Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal with a good tally of 10 points that gave them Europa League qualification. Defeat at the hands of Dortmund on Tuesday meant Mancini's side finished bottom of Group D. A victory would have seen Man City finish third again, above Ajax, and that would have put them in the Europa League. Mancini admitted he wanted to reach the Europa League but he believes not qualifying will help them in their bid to retain the Premier League title. "Clearly this can help us win the Premier League because we don't play in the Europa League," Mancini said. "But getting into it was our target. We wanted to win. At the moment we cannot think about this. We are not in the Europa League and for this we should be disappointed. Last season we did better. This year we had a very difficult group and if you make a mistake in the first two or three games it is very difficult." Mancini never got past the quarter-final stage as a manager, having reached the last eight with Inter Milan twice. But the Italian manager remains confident his side will improve next season, and used Dortmund as an example of how progress can be made. "The Champions League can be strange. Last year Borussia Dortmund went out in the first group and were fourth in that group," he said. "This year, for me, they are probably a team that can win the Champions League." The Premier League is City's focus at the moment, starting with Sunday's derby clash with neighbours Manchester United. "Tonight we lost the chance to qualify for the Europa League," Mancini said. "But after that, it is important that we only think about the derby. We have five days to recover our strength, and then I don't think there will be a problem." Here are the odds for the Manchester derby from Bet365: Man City to win - 5/4 Draw - 5/2 Man United to win - 21/10