ROBERTO MANCINI vowed Manchester City would learn their lessons and bounce back stronger after bowing out of the Champions League.
And the Italian insisted they will console themselves over the early exit by winning the Europa League instead.
The City boss said: "We're disappointed not to be in the Champions League any more but next year we want to be better.
"We can learn as a team. This is normal, it's our first time and we got a tough group.
"We want to improve the squad for the competition next season. We made some mistakes in it this year.
"But we are disappointed and I'm sorry for the club and the supporters because they deserve to still be in the Champions League."
City did their part of the bargain with a 2-0 win over group winners Bayern Munich thanks to goals from David Silva and Yaya Toure.
However their fate was sealed in Spain as Villarreal could not stop Napoli from winning and claiming second spot.
City became only the fifth team in the history of the competition to get 10 points yet fail to qualify for the next stage.
Mancini added: "I think with 10 points teams always go through — 99 per cent of the time. It was a strange and difficult group.
"Maybe it was the game in Naples that was the one because we played a good game there. I thought at half-time we could go through but our lives are not finished now."
The City boss has yet to lift a European trophy in his managerial career — so he now plans to take the Europa League seriously.
The Premier League leaders face a hectic start to 2012 as they face key games in the three domestic competitions plus an extra round of European football.
But Mancini said: "We go into the Europa League but it's another trophy and we need to win trophies.
"Maybe now we are thinking it is not an important trophy because we've never won it.
"But if we can arrive in the final, it will become important. We went out from the Champions League but we are still a fantastic team."
Meanwhile Mancini warned AC Milan to forget about signing Carlos Tevez on loan as City are only interested in washing their hands of him.
He said: "We want to sell Tevez — we won't loan him."
The City boss said: "We're disappointed not to be in the Champions League any more but next year we want to be better.
"We can learn as a team. This is normal, it's our first time and we got a tough group.
"We want to improve the squad for the competition next season. We made some mistakes in it this year.
"But we are disappointed and I'm sorry for the club and the supporters because they deserve to still be in the Champions League."
City did their part of the bargain with a 2-0 win over group winners Bayern Munich thanks to goals from David Silva and Yaya Toure.
However their fate was sealed in Spain as Villarreal could not stop Napoli from winning and claiming second spot.
City became only the fifth team in the history of the competition to get 10 points yet fail to qualify for the next stage.
Mancini added: "I think with 10 points teams always go through — 99 per cent of the time. It was a strange and difficult group.
"Maybe it was the game in Naples that was the one because we played a good game there. I thought at half-time we could go through but our lives are not finished now."
The City boss has yet to lift a European trophy in his managerial career — so he now plans to take the Europa League seriously.
The Premier League leaders face a hectic start to 2012 as they face key games in the three domestic competitions plus an extra round of European football.
But Mancini said: "We go into the Europa League but it's another trophy and we need to win trophies.
"Maybe now we are thinking it is not an important trophy because we've never won it.
"But if we can arrive in the final, it will become important. We went out from the Champions League but we are still a fantastic team."
Meanwhile Mancini warned AC Milan to forget about signing Carlos Tevez on loan as City are only interested in washing their hands of him.
He said: "We want to sell Tevez — we won't loan him."
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