SILVA BACKS CITY
As one of the favourites to win the competition, it should come as little surprise that the top players of Manchester City believe that they can bring the Champions League trophy back to the Etihad Stadium in May.
David Silva has been Manchester City's most impressive performer so far this season, with brilliant cameo dribbles, pin-point passing, and great spacial awareness helping to create chances and goal opportunities out of nothing for his team-mates, and he believes that, should Manchester City manage to get through to the knock-out stages of the Champions League, they have a great chance of winning it - though the Manchester City odds have drifted in recent weeks.
Of course, City have to get there first - a task that isn't made any easier by their loss to napoli last night - but speaking ahead of the match, he insisted that the blue half of Manchester have a realistic chance of winning the tournament.
"This (being in the Champions League) is where we want to be, and where we need to be every season. This is the level we have to be aiming for every season. And now that we've arrived on the biggest stage, it is time to have some fun, and prove ourselves to our fans, and to the rest of the football community. We want to make Manchester City feared."
"Getting into the Champions League was a massive step forward for us last year, and we Won the first trophy in years and years. We are now amongst the elite clubs in Europe, and this is where we belong. We have a great chance of winning this competition - after all, we beat Manchester United 6-1!
City lost out to a heroic Napoli performance on Tuesday night which leaves them needing favours from Villareal if they are to progress. The Spanish club need to defeat Napoli at their Valencia-based stadium, whilst Silva and his mates need to rally together and get the win they need at home against German champions Bayern.
It will be a tough ask, and coach Roberto Mancini only rates their chances of getting through at 30%. Should they get through to the knockout stages though, Silva et al will be fired up and raring to go, and capable of beating anyone. If they don't get through, expect their odds to be slashed in the Premier league betting markets - with no European games they can focus their full squad strength on winning the league title.