|
ESPNsoccernet: UEFA Champions League | |
Yaya Toure has declared that Manchester City are potential Champions League winners.
 |
Toure, 29, knows Roberto Mancini's side face a tough test to get out of a group containing the champions of England, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands.
But the Ivorian midfielder believes that if they can negotiate a way past Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, they can go all the way.
Toure was a Champions League winner with Barcelona in 2009, while Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Maicon have also tasted victory in the tournament.
"With these kinds of players, I think we can go far and win this competition," he said.
Toure accepts that City's first objective is to reach the last 16. Despite getting ten points, they went out in the group stage last year and lost their opening match to Real Madrid a fortnight ago.
"We want to get through to the second round," the midfielder added. "We have to get as many points as possible because we know we are in a difficult group with Madrid, Dortmund and Ajax.
City host Dortmund on Wednesday, and Toure believes they need to cut out the errors that have been a feature of their start to the season.
"We need to improve and we need to work hard because Dortmund are a fantastic team. We play our first game in the Champions League at home, and we want to show the fans we made a mistake in Madrid," he added.
City had a 2-1 lead in the Bernabeu before late goals from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo gave Jose Mourinho's side victory to leave the Premier League winners three points behind their Spanish and German counterparts.
"The position we are in now is quite serious because we lost in Madrid," Toure said.