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Coach Roberto Mancini apologized to the fans for the early exit from the UEFA Europa League tournament.
In the second leg of the round of 16 match at home against Lisbon's "Sporting", the English team fell behind 0-2, but scored three goals in 22 minutes and secured a 3-2 victory. However, it was not enough as they lost 0-1 in Portugal.
"I'm disappointed, because I probably made mistakes. I apologize to the fans," Mancini said. "The players did everything and fought until the end.
"When a coach doesn't properly prepare for a match, this happens. When we lose, I always think about the reasons and look for my mistakes."
Meanwhile, "Sporting" coach Ricardo Sa Pinto praised his players: "We knew how strong of an opponent 'Man City' is, so we are very happy to have beaten them. It's a huge achievement for our team to defeat one of the best clubs in the world."
