CROUCH: MUM’S A TYPICAL CITY FAN

PETER CROUCH knows all about the apathy Manchester City fans feel towards the Champions League – it runs in the family.

The former England international’s mum, Jayne, is a City supporter and Crouch would regularly be taken to Maine Road as a youngster whenever he returned to his Macclesfield roots to visit his grandparents.

It gives the striker-turned-TV star an insight into the task facing Pep Guardiola to convince the Etihad faithful to embrace the biggest competition in club football. Crouch feels that City fans need a change of attitude to help the Catalan deliver the one trophy that the owner Sheikh Mansour covets most of all.

Crouch (right) said: “My mum’s side of the family are all City fans and I always ask them why most City supporters don’t seem to be that interested in the Champions League. They always tell me that they would rather win the Premier League. City have got a history of a few things with UEFA that they are not very happy about – and that’s why they boo the Champions League anthem.

“When you look at the stadium, it’s not full for Champions League games. When you compare that to my time playing for Liverpool, the European competitions were always bigger than anything.

“I think there is definitely something in the psyche of City as a club that means the Champions League just doesn’t feel that important. It really is bizarre. They are favourites for the Champions League every year. Why they can’t live up to that expectation is down to a number of factors – and the thing with the fans is definitely one of them.

“When I compare it to the nights I had with Liverpool – and when I played for Tottenham in the Champions League – there would be flags everywhere and the atmosphere went up almost 10 per cent.”

Peter Crouch was speaking in association with BT Sport. Make unlimited subs with flexible BT TV; Change your football packages, BT Sport, Prime Video & Now TV Sky Sports Pass, every month. Find out more at btsport.com/unlimited-subs