City’s 'B' team are good enough to win Champions League says Villas-boas
Marseille boss Andre Villas-Boas believes Manchester City are good enough to win the Champions League with their 'B' team.
The French side are expecting to find out just how strong City's so-called second string can be when the clubs meet at the Etihad Stadium tonight.
Having already secured a place in the Champions League last 16, City manager Pep Guardiola has suggested he will make wholesale changes for the Group C encounter.
Porto have already taken the runners-up spot in the pool but the game is still important for Marseille as they look to pip Olympiacos to the consolation of a Europa League place.
Villas-boas, the former Chelsea and Tottenham manager, said: "Qualifying is not in our hands.
"Hopefully Porto will do us a favour but we know it is going to be hard against Manchester City. They have so many options, and so many top-level options as well.
"We cannot rely on Porto but we must be at our best to get a positive result because City's 'B' team are strong enough to win the Champions League, I think."
City have become regulars in the latter stages of the competition, their performances this season having seen them power through to the last 16 for an eighth successive year.
Yet winning the tour nament has been elusive so far despite boasting a star-studded squad. They have just one semi-final showing to their name, in 2016, and Guardiola - a two-time winner as Barcelona boss - has overseen three consecutive quarter-final defeats.