Defender hopes City can deliver this time around.
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Manchester City defender Micah Richards has called on his teammates to deliver and finally make a meaningful impact on the Champions League this season, Sky Sports reports.
The Citizens have crashed out at the group stages of the previous two competitions after being cruelly placed in the famed ‘group of death’ consecutively, but Richards believes that the draw has been kinder to the club this time around.
Having kicked off their latest European adventure with a 3-0 win away to Viktoria Plzen earlier this month, City are now facing a far more serious challenge in the shape of defending champions Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
CSKA Moscow are the other team in Group D and Richards believes it is City’s best opportunity yet to at least make the last 16.
“The last two seasons, without making excuses, the groups that we’ve had have been really hard,” the defender told Sky Sports News.
“I think this group is still hard but is a little bit easier than the last two.
“We started off with a good win away and we are at home now so hopefully we can get another good result, but it’s massive for the club now.
“We won the Premier League, or scraped it by goal difference, and now we want to improve every year and it’s important we do that in the Champions League.”
Richards also said that he is eager to avoid any further European heartbreak this year and Richards now believes that the side are in a better position to deal with the demands.
“With the players we have, we should be there or thereabouts in the Champions League, but to not qualify in the last two seasons has been pretty hard for everyone to take, he added.
“Now the team looks like it is gelling at the right time. We can go into Champions League games with confidence and I feel good this year.
“I think the draw is a little bit on our side and I just hope we qualify and see where we go from there.”