Manchester City chairman Al Mubarak makes Champions League promise

Manchester: After two years of poor results in Europe, the club supremo has vowed to push on in Uefa`s primary competition, while he also expressed disappointment at a "difficult" season.

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has stated that the club will improve their Champions League performances next season. Under Roberto Mancini, City failed to progress past the group stages of Europe’s primary competition - finishing fourth behind finalists Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Ajax this season. But Al Mubarak insisted that he would oversee vast improvement in Europe as City prepare to replace Mancini as manager with Manuel Pellegrini - who confirmed that he has a verbal agreement with the Etihad outfit. Al Mubarak told the club’s official website: “We’ve won the Premier League before, we know what it takes to win it. We can win it and will win it again. We’ve won the FA Cup before, we know what it takes to win it. “We haven’t been as successful in Europe. The Champions League, two years in a row, I think that’s an area that no doubt will require a lot of improvement. “But I assure you, with the squad we have, with the organisation we have and with the manager that’s going to come in and with the new players that will complement the squad, we will have a strong team that is going to compete in the Champions League next year.” Al Mubarak also gave his assessment of a trying season in which City failed to retain their Premier League title as Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United stormed to their 20th crown. “I have mixed feelings about the season,” he added. “There has been some great ups and there’s been some downs. “We’ve had a very difficult season to say the least. Looking back, at the end of the day, coming second in the Premier League, it’s not great but it’s an achievement. “Coming second in the FA Cup, again, not great but it’s good. The Champions League is an area that I’m definitely very disappointed in our performances there. “We are a club that has been designed to win championships. That’s what we’re all here to do. We are here to win, to play beautiful football and to play entertaining football.” Goal.com