Yaya Toure says Man City are Spurred on for Euro glory
Posted Tuesday, September 27, 2011 by The Sun
YAYA TOURE thinks Manchester City's demolition job on Tottenham last month proves they can take the Champions League by storm this season.
The FA Cup winners face a major test tonight as they tackle in-form Bayern Munich in their German fortress.
Jupp Heynckes men have not conceded a goal in NINE games in all competitions.
But midfielder Toure — who won the competition with Barcelona in 2009 — believes City have nothing to fear in their debut season.
He pointed out that Spurs reached the quarter-finals last season but were trounced 5-1 by the rampant Blues on August 28 — and Edin Dzeko scored four of them.
Some experts believe City's lack of experience on the biggest stage could see them come unstuck against Europe's big guns.
But Toure, 28, said: "I don't think there is a big space between us and the top teams in this competition.
"You look at the game at Tottenham, we played fantastically.
"They're a big team and did well in the Champions League last year, they got to the quarter-finals. So that shows we have a fantastic squad and, for me, this year we can do well.
"I'm just pleased we are in it. We can do fantastically well this year."
Toure, a £24million signing 14 months ago, knows better than anyone at the Etihad how difficult it is to win this competition having done it during his time at the Nou Camp.
He accepts it will be difficult to lift the trophy back here at the Allianz Arena on May 19 with teams like Barca around.
The Ivory Coast international said: "It's very hard work to win this competition.
"It's one of the best competitions in the world and its only the top teams that you play.
"I don't think we should say we can win it with teams like Barcelona around.
"The most important thing is to get to the second stage and then see.
"But you need players with the Champions League experience. We have more quality now with the likes of Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero."
Sheikh Mansour will expect the club he has bankrolled to lift the trophy in the not-too-distant future.
And Toure believes the signs are promising that they are moving in the right direction having made such big strides over the last year.
He added: "The team is improving every week. On the training ground you see how hard we work.
"It's fantastic for the club to be in it. It's very important for us and we need to improve.
"All the top players want to be part of this — it's an amazing competition."
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