Roberto Mancini is adamant he was the catalyst for Manchester City's current success. The Italian was in charge at the Sky Blues between 2009 and 2013 - and led City to their first Premier League title in 44 years during the 2011-12 season.
City also won the FA Cup in 2011 under Mancini's tutelage before Manuel Pellegrini led the club to a Premier League and Capital One Cup double last season.
He told 442: "I think that we started to build this team five years ago. In two years we won the Premier League, the FA Cup, we won everything in England.
"And this current team are playing nine of my players all of the time. I am very happy with that because I know these players."
But Mancini is adamant that the foundations were laid in place during his four-year tenure at the Etihad.
"I think it's not easy to build a strong team with only four or five years.
"They are a team like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona - big teams that have been like that for 50 years. You need the time to improve. But we have a big chance also to be one of the best teams in Europe."
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