page_title: Roberto Mancini
section_title: 2011–12
hierarchical_section_title: Roberto Mancini / Managerial career / Manchester City / 2011–12
caption_attribution_description: English: (l-r) Roberto Mancini, Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero with the Premier League trophy on Manchester City's victory parade, 14 May 2012
context_page_description: Roberto Mancini is an Italian football manager and former player who is the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped the team win the Serie A league title, four Coppa Italia titles, and the European Cup Winners' Cup. He was capped 36 times for Italy, taking part at UEFA Euro 1988 and the 1990 FIFA World Cup, achieving semi-final finishes in both tournaments. In 1997, after 15 years at Sampdoria, Mancini left the club to join Lazio, where he won a further Scudetto, as well as the Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and two more Coppa Italia titles.
  As a player, Mancini would often give team talks at half-time. Towards the end of his playing career he became an assistant to Sven-Göran Eriksson at Lazio. His first manager role was at a cash-stricken Fiorentina at only 35 years old. He won a Coppa Italia there, but left with the team facing bankruptcy. Months later he took over as manager at Lazio, where again he inherited financial constraints and was forced to lose a number of key players.
context_section_description: The club were quieter in the closed season transfer window than in previous years, with the club's spending of approximately £75 million more in line with the corresponding amounts spent by rivals Manchester United and Liverpool. £60 million of this sum was used to purchase two players: Sergio Agüero, for a club record fee, and Samir Nasri from Atlético Madrid and Arsenal respectively. Other players purchased during the summer included Gaël Clichy and Stefan Savić, while Owen Hargreaves joined on a free transfer after having been released by Manchester United. City began the Premier League season very strongly, winning 12 of their first 14 matches and scoring an impressive 48 goals while only conceding 13. These results left City undefeated and five points clear at the top of the league over second-placed Manchester United by the beginning of December.
  A revitalised Edin Džeko won the Premier League Player of the Month award for August 2011, and David Silva won the same award for September 2011. Many were impressed with the impact of Agüero and Nasri, which had given City an exciting, attacking verve.
  Mancini was also responsible for inflicting United's worst loss since 1955 when his City side won 6–1 away at Old Trafford. He was named Premier League Manager of the Month as a result of City's strong form in the month of October.
  City maintained the lead in the Premier League over the next five months but struggled in the Champions League in a group that involved Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal. City failed to progress, but finished third in the group with ten points, normally enough to guarantee qualification into the knock-out stages.
  A 3–2 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup third round on 8 January 2012 was bittersweet. City had Vincent Kompany controversially sent-off in the sixth minute and United managed to create a 3–0 lead before half-time against a lacklustre and beleaguered City team. However, after numerous tactical changes from Mancini at half-time, City came out fighting with ten men, a renewed version of the team that had played in the first half. Two goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Sergio Agüero narrowed the deficit to just one goal. City were in the ascendency and continued to push for an equalising goal despite having only ten men, but failed to do so with the final whistle. Mancini later believed the match was a seminal moment in the development of his team, demonstrating that City were a better team than United. He believed that the match helped to carve out a fighting spirit that his team had previously lacked.
  City also progressed to the League Cup semi-final, maintaining Mancini's record of reaching a major competition semi-final in every season he has managed. City played Liverpool and conceded an away goal in the first leg with a penalty from Steven Gerrard. City went to Anfield and led twice with goals from Nigel de Jong and Edin Džeko, but another penalty from Steven Gerrard and a goal from Craig Bellamy meant Liverpool won 3–2 on aggregate. On 13 May 2012, City clinched the Premier League title in a dramatic 3–2 win over Queens Park Rangers after originally being 2–1 down going into injury time. He became the second Italian manager to win a Premier League title after Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea team in 2009–10.
caption: Mancini (left), Samir Nasri and Sergio Agüero with the Premier League trophy during Manchester City's victory parade, May 2012.
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