Manchester City, buoyed by the return of Yaya Toure, will look to seal a spot in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage when they travel to Borussia Moenchengladbach today to play a team struggling for form.
Toure, banned by coach Pep Guardiola following comments by his agent about the manager, returned from a three-month exile to score both goals in City’s 2-1 English Premier League win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Guardiola’s decision to restore the Ivory Coast international has further boosted spirits, already high with the team just a point behind leaders Chelsea in the league.
Photo: AP
“His personality and his quality are there to see,” Guardiola said.
“He can play many positions. We now have one more man that can help us achieve our targets this season,” he said.
“With this intensity, we’re going to play in the Champions League,” said the Spaniard, whose team would advance with a win or a draw.
City, who routed ’Gladbach 4-0 at home in September, are in second place in the group on seven points, three ahead of the German side, and can wrap up qualification with victory.
A draw will be enough if Celtic lose at home to Barcelona in the other Group C fixture.
Barcelona are top with nine points, with Celtic in last place on two.
The German side, who also lost at home to City last season, would secure third spot and UEFA Europa League action if they draw and Celtic lose.
They still have an outside chance of a top-two finish, but their final group match is away at Barcelona.
However, Moenchengladbach are stuck in a rut, having failed to win any of their past six Bundesliga matches in which they have scored just one goal.
Their last victory in any competition dates back to last month in the DFB Pokal.
Coach Andre Schubert, who still has the backing of club bosses, but was jeered following Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Cologne, will be without suspended Christoph Kramer and Julian Korb, as well as the injured Patrick Herrmann.
“We are just not scoring goals,” Moenchengladbach captain Lars Stindl said. “We are missing the final touch up front and some luck, but we must forget everything, put everything behind us and keep together so that we can improve.”
“Wednesday’s match is completely different under different conditions,” he said. “We want to play a good home game, secure third place early. That is our big goal and we believe in our chances. We know what we are capable of.”
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