NO MORE EXCUSES

It Is the itch that the new Manchester City have been unable to scratch. since the 2008 takeover and the heavy investment that followed, two Premier League trophies have been lifted, along with an FA Cup and a Capital One Cup.

But success in the Champions League remains elusive at the Etihad stadium — and for captain Vincent Kompany there are no excuses in the need to improve on back-to-back last-16 exits at the hands of Barcelona.

speaking ahead of tonight’s European opener against last year’s beaten finalists Juventus, the Belgian declared: ‘We have to be better. It cannot be what it was in the previous years.

‘As long as we don’t perform in the Champions League as we have in the Premier League, there will always be something left behind.

‘there is nobody here who left the Champions League satisfied last year. We came up against the best team in the world. that made it easier to understand but we want to beat them on a regular basis.

‘ We are disappointed and frustrated from last season. We need to take that anger or desire or energy into the game.’

Kompany, whose side are in a group with Juventus, Borussia Monchengladbach and sevilla, believes that playing Barcelona should not justify failure.

‘It is not an excuse,’ he said. ‘It is the truth. the group may be the hardest this year again but we have learned to cope with it in the last few years.’

Manager Manuel Pellegrini spent £135million in the summer on raheem sterling, Kevin de Bruyne, fabian Delph and Nicolas Otamendi.

Kompany believes the squad, four points clear at the top of the Premier League, is the strongest it has been since he arrived at the club and can now challenge the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and real Madrid.

‘Early signs would say so but experience would teach you to be careful,’ he said. ‘It was exactly what we needed. those teams are not just the best because they have a better chance or colours, they have been working on the squad for so many years, attracting the best players.’

Kompany added that City are going into the clash against the Italians, who have yet to win in three serie A matches, in high spirits.

‘If we are not confident after what we have done, then we will never be confident,’ he said.

City will be without sergio Aguero, who is out with a knee injury after a poor challenge from Crystal Palace’s scott Dann during saturday’s 1- 0 win at selhurst Park.

the Argentinian striker is expected to be replaced by ex-swansea target man Wilfried Bony, with Pellegrini reverting to a 4-2-3-1 from the 4-4-2 he deployed in London.

the Chilean, who has spanish playmaker David silva and winger sterling fit again, will be unable to select teenage striker Kelechi Iheanacho — who marked his debut by scoring the winner at Palace — as he i s not i n the Champions League squad.

Pellegrini, who added that he hopes to have Aguero back for saturday’s visit of West Ham United, acknowledged that City need to improve in the competition but refused to l ook beyond tonight’s match.

‘We need to take an important step forward in Europe and I hope it can happen this year,’ he said.

‘We are not thinking where we are going to arrive, we are just thinking about how to win against Juventus.’