Vincent Kompany admits Manchester City’s clash with a ‘strong’ Juventus is ‘really important for us’ after previous disappointments.
The English side have been seen as under-performing in Europe in recent seasons, and the Belgian stopper is aiming to put that right.
“It’s really important for us,” Kompany said in a pre-match Press conference.
Vincent Kompany admits Manchester City’s clash with a ‘strong’ Juventus is ‘really important for us’ after previous disappointments.
The English side have been seen as under-performing in Europe in recent seasons, and the Belgian stopper is aiming to put that right.
“It’s really important for us,” Kompany said in a pre-match Press conference.
“Everything has been so bright and good for us so far, it’s the same as people have been saying for the last three or four years, if we don’t perform and show our quality as we’ve done in the Premier League then there will always be something that’s left behind and leaves us unsatisfied, so it’s a really important game for us.
“We’ve been looking forward to the start of this competition since that disappointing game in Barcelona last season [City lost 3-1 on aggregate, 1-0 at Camp Nou].
“Even in the group stages we’ve struggled a couple of times. Certainly last season against [CSKA] Moscow was disappointing as well, it’s about finding that confidence we have in the Premier League and bringing it into the Champions League.
“If we’re not confident for tomorrow, then we’ll never be confident after what we’ve done so far. We’re frustrated from many seasons before, we just have to take that anger, or that desire into tomorrow’s game.
“Whatever happened last season should be used as a lesson. We have a good team, we should always be confident before a game starts.
“Tomorrow is a game which everyone will be ready for, and just really up for. It maybe takes a bit of pressure off you, you can’t underestimate any team at this level.
“Tomorrow, everyone knows it’s a strong team, and everyone is ready for it.”
Juventus reached the Champions League final last season, losing to Barça, but Kompany sees three teams as being far ahead of the chasing pack.
“Since we’ve been in the Champions League, it’s been Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, they’ve been the three strongest teams by a mile, so I think every other team has been playing catch-up.
“For us to close that gap and overcome them eventually – and the same for any other team, Juventus are probably trying to do that as well – it’ll just take time and hard work, like they’ve done over the years.
“Those teams are not just the best because they have a better badge or better colours, it’s because they’ve had the chance to work on their squad for so many years, and they’ve always attracted the best players
“For us to attract players like [Raheem] Sterling and [Kevin] De Bruyne takes us a step closer, but ultimately we’ll have to prove it on the pitch.
“One of the things is, they [those teams] have huge depth in the squad, and people forget that sometimes.
“They want to show us where the most money is spent, but that’s not what it’s about really, it’s about who has the best squad to cope with all the competitions
“It seems like Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have been fielding such strong squads over the whole season that it’s given them an advantage, but closing the gap is about making sure those differences don’t exist anymore.
“No-one left the Champions League satisfied last year. Ok, we came up against the best team in the world, I guess that made it a little bit easier to understand, but that’s not what we want.
“We want to be able to compete with them, and at least beat them on a regular basis. It’s another year, and it’s another season full of hope.”