Manchester City in Australia: Yaya Toure says victory over Real Madrid could help their European ambitions

MANCHESTER City star Yaya Toure said a positive result against Real Madrid on Friday night could propel them to greater European heights this season.

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MANCHESTER City star Yaya Toure said a positive result against Real Madrid on Friday night could propel them to greater European heights this season.

Despite competing for the Premier League title for the past four years, City has been Champions League flops, only qualifying from the group stage the past two seasons.

Both times they were eliminated in the round of 16 by Toure’s former club and last season’s Euro kings Barcelona.

While Manuel Pellegrini is under pressure to deliver Champions League success Toure stopped short of declaring they must win it, but conceded that the club needed to make the quarter-finals at least this season.

Real Madrid are Europe’s most successful club claiming 10 Champions League crowns, three ahead of AC Milan, and Toure said tonight’s International Champions Cup clash is ideal preparation for City.

“Everybody says it’s a friendly game but for us it doesn’t look like a friendly, it’s a test game, to try and test ourselves and how far we can go,’’ Toure said.

“For me it’s very good to play those teams because you can learn and achieve and grow from those games, and this will be a good test just try to learn and compare because Real Madrid.

“We’re looking forward and we’re not just looking at the Premier League, we’re looking at the Champions League because we have a massive target in front of us and we need to deliver and I hope we’ll deliver.

“We need to improve(in Europe), because the three years we’ve been involved in the group stage we’ve been in a difficult situation and we’ve had bad luck _ we’ve been drawn against difficult teams.

“This year we’ll probably have a difficult draw again, but we’re used to it and we just have to go forward and pass the 16 (round of 16).’’

While last Saturday’s ICC opener was a dull affair, Raheem Sterling helped spring the tournament into life with a lively performance last Tuesday at the MCG.

Toure, who played the second half of the shootout win over Roma, said pre-season clashes can be difficult due to the volume of training and games, but Real has had a six day break while City is just 16 days away from their Premier League opener.

“Pre-season is always tough because you have to play every few days and between that you train twice everyday so it’s tight,’’ he said.

“The main target is that we have to be prepared for when the season starts, because pre-season doesn’t matter as much if you play well or bad, the most important thing is that you work hard, especially now because the league is going to be tight this year.’’

Toure and new signing Fabian Delph were mobbed with over 1500 City fans yesterday queuing up for their signatures.

The Ivory Coast midfielder admitted he was surprised by the reception City has received.

“It’s my first time here, it’s unbelievable. We’ve been received brilliantly,’’ Toure said.

“To be honest I was a little surprised to see we have a lot of fans in Australia.

“Step by step, year by year the club is getting bigger. Last season was difficult, we didn’t win the title, but in future I think the club’s going to be massive.’’