Belgium’s captain is expected to start in an international friendly against Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri’s France on Wednesday night but has lifted the lid on pre-season preparations at club level.
He revealed that although the past few weeks have been among the toughest of his career, he’s relishing these early weeks of Manuel Pellegrini’s reign.
“It puts a smile on my face because there is nothing better than to know you are going to be competing for some of the most wanted prizes in the world, and we have the team to do it,” Kompany declared.
It was probably the hardest pre-season I’ve had in my career. It was quite exhausting, but really, really good.
...Vincent Kompany...
“I hope we will take all of the work we have done, take it into the season and use it to make us stronger.”
City go into the 2013/14 season hoping to reach the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League for the first time.
Although the Blues’ failure to negotiate the group stages last season hogged most of the headlines domestically, 2013 was the first time that no English side reached the last eight of the tournament since 1996.
Kompany believes that this decline in fortunes for English clubs in Europe’s premier club competition may hint at a wider issue but that his team is well prepared for all of the challenges ahead in a season which kicks off for City in just five days.
“It has been a problem for English teams, and ourselves definitely, coping with the Champions League, the Premier League and all of the other competitions,” the 27-year old said.
“We have changed our approach a little bit, so we will see at the end of the season.”
There are still tickets available for City’s opening Premier League engagement against Newcastle United on Monday night.
If you’d like to see the Blues take their first steps towards trying to regain the Premier League crown, book now for what promises to be an exciting night under the lights of the Etihad Stadium.
