Goal : Nigel de Jong has insisted that Manchester City’s main aim this season is to win the Premier League and says the team will not be affected by their Champions League exit.
City were making their debut in the competition this season but were still expected to make a big impact due to their expensively assembled squad, but fell out at the first hurdle as they were pipped to the knockout stages by group rivals Napoli and Bayern Munich.
However, midfielder De Jong says the team have not been “despairing” over the exit and will carry on targeting glory on a number of fronts.
De Jong told reporters: “We won’t be affected by this setback.
“Winning the league will make up for this. We didn’t go through in the Champions League but we can’t let that distract us from our main target and that’s winning the Premier League.
“We are still in with a chance of four cups. We are not despairing about the season because it’s still early.
“It’s the first year City were in the Champions League and expectations were high but in the group expectations weren’t so high because our main target was still the Premier League title.”