**Enzo Maresca** talked targets for **Manchester City** as a new **Champions League** season starts.
The _Citizens_ clinched **Champions League** glory in 2023 to take home a historic treble, but the journey back to the top has not been within reach since. They have bowed out of the competition against **Real Madrid** in the last three seasons, suffering a **quarter-final penalty shootout defeat in 2024**, a knockout playoff beatdown in 2025, and another humbling in the **Round of 16** earlier this year.
A side in transition
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Life without the experience of **Pep Guardiola**, **Bernardo Silva**, **Rodri**, **John Stones** and **Nathan Ake** indicates that the side are stepping into a phase of transition.
Nevertheless, new standards for the side mean they will want to try as best as possible to compete with the best clubs on the continent. [Manchester City](https://www.vavel.com/en/data/manchester-city/) know that patience will be required, with the Italian having already stressed that [these players all need time](https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2026/09/05/manchester-city/1270306-maresca-these-players-all-need-time.html).
·**‘This is a hard place to come’**
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The first checkpoint will be a spot in the **top eight** of the league phase of the **Champions League**.
City start their **Champions League** journey with a trip to **Porto**, and they will be hoping for a better time at the **Estadio do Dragao** than their last visit in the **Champions League** final against **Chelsea**.
_"I said many times when you are_ **_Manchester City_** _the expectations are always higher. I like to focus on the day by day. It's complicated to think where we can be in February, March or April. For me the most important thing is to see we are improving game after game._
_"We are here to do our best. This is a hard place to come. This season they have started very good. In the last 14 or 15 games in Europe I think they have lost one. That shows it's a difficult place to come but we are going to try our best to win the game."_