Roberto Mancini believes three points against Villarreal is the kick-start the Blues need to get their Champions League campaign off and running.
A draw against Napoli and a demoralising defeat against Bayern Munich mean the games against the La Liga outfit are now pivotal to City's hopes of progressing. With Villarreal currently bottom of the group and out-of-sorts in their domestic league, the City boss knows his team must make home advantage count. "We need one victory to get our Champions League campaign going," saidMancini."Villarreal will be hard but we can win this game and it will make a difference in the group. "We didn't play as well as we can against Bayern, while they played very well and deserved to win. "Villarreal are a very experienced Champions League side and it is important we take three points no matter how we do it. I still think we can win this group depending on results elsewhere.
...Roberto Mancini
"There was some pressure prior to Napoli because of the expectations and the fact it was our first game in this competition, but we are strong enough to go forward and the players are desperate to win this game and put ourselves in a better position in the group." David Silva admits there can be no slip-ups against the Spaniards with just one point out of a possible six on the board so far. He said: "This is a very important game for us – we need to get the three points or we will start to lose touch with the leading teams. It's a tough group but we are good enough to progress to the knock-out stages.
"In the Premier League we have got a lot of games under our belt and are playing really well – maybe we need to play more Champions League games before we adapt to the competition.
"Villarreal are a great side that pass the ball around and break very quickly – we will need to be on our guard or they will punish us."
Silva also thanked his boss for recently claiming the City idol is now among the best players in the world.
"I'm very grateful for the comments he's made and the faith the manager has shown in me," he said.
"It's very difficult when you first arrive in a new country. You have to adjust to the pace and lifestyle and it can take time, but he had patience in me and I'm very happy here at City and it is showing on the pitch when I play."