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Musacchio confident ahead of City match 1 November 2011
Villarreal's Mateo Musacchio thinks his side can beat Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday despite their slow start to the season.
Villarreal are struggling to replicate their performances of last term, languishing in 13th place in La Liga and losing all three of their games in Group A so far.
With Giuseppe Rossi, Marcos Senna and Cristian Zapata the latest additions to the Spanish side's injury list ahead of the clash at El Madrigal, Roberto Mancini's team will go into the game as favourites.
Regardless of the factors stacked against them, the Argentina international defender feels his side can take three points."We are very confident and eager to reverse the situation in the Champions League," Musacchio said.
"We have two home games and one away. We have the same enthusiasm as ever, are eager to play well on Wednesday, and finish with a positive result.
"The home side may be missing key players through injury, but the 21-year-old feels the replacements have the necessary quality to adequately fill in.
"Unfortunately these are things that cannot be avoided, which are beyond our control. We are not doing things wrong, but these things happen and happen to all teams," he said.
"Reserve players come prepared. I am confident because I played for Villarreal B and know that if you play in that squad you can do very well with the first team.
"Villarreal must win the fixture to have any chance of progressing to the next stage, and will take some confidence from their 2-0 league win over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.
Champions League Group E wrap: Chelsea held but stay top 2 November 2011
Chelsea drew 1-1 with Genk in the Champions League on Tuesday, but remain in command of Group E after Bayer Leverkusen lost to Valencia.
Following a 5-3 defeat at home to Arsenal in the English Premier League on Saturday, Chelsea’s difficult week continued on the European stage as they were held away to Belgian side Genk.
Ramires opened the scoring for the visitors in the 25th minute at the Cristal Arena, with the Brazilian midfielder picking the ball up on the right of midfield and setting off on a surging run towards the Genk penalty area.
As he neared the 18-yard box he exchanged passes with Fernando Torres before firing low through the legs of Genk goalkeeper Laszlo Koteles from a tight angle. Fellow Brazilian David Luiz missed a penalty that would have made it 2-0 seven minutes before the break, after Thomas Buffel handled as Florent Malouda attempted to play the ball into the box.
Centre-back Luiz appeared an unusual choice to take the spot kick, and any suspicions were confirmed when his weak effort was saved by Koteles.The home side would later punish Luiz's profligacy. Kevin De Bruyne played in Fabien Camus and the defender set up Jelle Vossen, who found the back of net from close range just past the hour mark.
Raul Meireles, Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge all missed good chances to restore Chelsea's lead late on. And Anthony Limbombe could have won the game for Genk in the final moments, but had a low shot saved by Petr Cech.The draw leaves Chelsea top of the group with eight points and two ahead of Leverkusen, who lost 3-1 at Valencia.
The La Liga hosts got off to the perfect start at the Mestalla, capitalising on an error by Bernd Leno to score right after kick-off.The Leverkusen goalkeeper cleared the ball straight into the path of striker Jonas, who guided the loose ball back beyond Leno.
Clocked at 10.5 seconds, it was the second fastest goal in Champions League history.Leverkusen levelled against the run of play in the 30th minute, with Stefan Kiessling heading in Michael Ballack's cross. Roberto Soldado back-heeled home Jeremy Mathieu's cut-back to restore Valencia's lead on 65 minutes.
Moments later, Leverkusen looked to have equalised a second time, but Andre Schuerrle's goal was disallowed for offside.Defender Adil Rami then made sure of the points for the Spanish side with a headed goal 15 minutes from time.Leverkusen remain second in the group but are now just one point ahead of Valencia, with two matches still to play.
Champions League Group F wrap: Gunners miss chance, Dortmund triumph 2 November 2011
Arsenal are yet to confirm their place in the Champions League knock-out stages following a 0-0 draw with Marseille on Tuesday.
Despite only taking a point from the match at the Emirates Stadium, Arsene Wenger's side continue to top Group F with eight points, one ahead of Marseille.Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund are third, four points back from Arsenal after recording their first victory with a 1-0 win at home to Olympiakos.
Both Arsenal and their visitors from Ligue 1 had chances to win the matchday four encounter in north London.Theo Walcott almost put the hosts ahead in the 10th minute when he found space on the right to shoot across Steve Mandanda, but the Marseille goalkeeper got a glove on the effort to steer it wide.
At the other end, Mandanda's counterpart Wojciech Szczesny was slightly busier than he would have wanted following Carl Jenkinson's short back-pass, dancing around Loic Remy before clearing, much to the relief of the home support.
Aaron Ramsey was culpable for two missed opportunities during the first half, wasting good work first by Andre Santos and then Gervinho.Gunners captain Robin van Persie - on as a substitute for the ineffectual Park Chu-Young - should have scored in the 75th minute when he was played in by Tomas Rosicky, but the Dutch striker directed a tame chip straight at Mandanda.
Morgan Amalfitano shot wide with Marseille's last real sight of goal, and full-back Jeremy Morel did well to fling himself in the path of Van Persie's final effort.In the other match in Group F, a goal from Kevin Grosskreutz saw Dortmund finally open their account in this season's competition following a poor return from their first three matches.
Highly rated forward Mario Gotze was the architect of the winning goal at Westfalenstadium.He fooled the Greek team's defence by rolling the ball across the 18-yard line for Grosskreutz, who smashed a shot through a crowded box and into the top-left corner of the net.The victory lifts Dortmund up to third, one point ahead of last-placed Olympiakos.
Champions League Group G wrap: APOEL, Zenit earn crucial wins 2 November 2011
APOEL and Zenit St Petersburg did their chances of progressing out of Champions League Group G plenty of good with valiant wins on Wednesday.
Cypriot clubs APOEL - favoured by many to be the whipping boys of the group when it was drawn - took the biggest scalp of matchday four by overcoming Liga Sagres and Europa League champions Porto at GSP Stadium in Nicosia.
A late Gustavo Manduca goal gave the hosts the three points, just moments after Hulk's penalty had cancelled out Ailton's first-half finish from the spot.The match started at a slow pace, with both sides looking more interested in not conceding than going out to attack.
As such, it was with little surprise that the first opening came 21 minutes into the game.Manduca delivered a cross into the six-yard box for Ailton, whose header was denied by Helton.
With Porto struggling to create any chances, APOEL looked more lively and broke the deadlock three minutes before the half-time break.Ailton was tripped by Eliaquim Mangala as he tried to dribble past Porto's Belgian defender and referee Gianluca Rocchi awarded a penalty, which the Brazilian striker converted for his third goal in the competition.
It was expected that Porto coach Vitor Pereira would make some changes during the interval but it took him 15 minutes of the second half to react, as Freddy Guarin and James Rodriguez came on for Fernando and Silvestre Varela.
The substitutions paid immediate dividends as the visitors began to create opportunities, but efforts from distance were either blocked by APOEL defenders or calmly saved by goalkeeper Urko. Porto then won a penalty in the 88th minute after Rodriguez was brought down in the area by Portuguese defender Nuno Morais, and Hulk made no mistake from the spot.
But parity lasted just two minutes, as APOEL regained the lead through Manduca.Porto pushed forward in search for an equaliser and left plenty of space at the back, allowing Constantinos Charalambides to send in a pass to the far post for the Brazilian - a former player of Porto's bitter rivals Benfica - to slot home.
The victory sees APOEL remain at the top in Group G on eight points, while Porto are third, with four points fewer.In the group's earlier game, Zenit overcame Shakhtar Donetsk to win 1-0 at the Petrovsky Stadium.
Nicolas Lombaerts' header on the stroke of half-time was enough to seal the three points in Russia, keeping Zenit second behind APOEL.At one point behind the Cypriot First Division champions and three points ahead of Porto, Zenit are well placed to progress to the knockout stages.
Champions League Group H wrap: Messi on song, Milan frustrated 2 November 2011
Lionel Messi netted his 200th goal for Barcelona during a 4-0 win over Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Tuesday. Messi's landmark strike was his first goal in a hat-trick scored at the home of the Czech champions.
The Argentine's goals helped his side move two points clear at the top of Group H, as second-placed AC Milan could only draw 1-1 with BATE Borisov.Plzen started the match full of running and tried to take the game to their illustrious opposition at the Synot Tip Arena.
Milan Petrzela burst through a static Barca back line only to be thwarted by goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who produced a strong left-handed save to stop the hosts from taking a surprise early lead.Daniel Kolar then wasted another chance, blazing a half-volley high and wide after being found in space inside the box.
But Plzen's encouraging start came to nothing, and they found themselves behind after 10 minutes when Messi had his legs taken away from him by Marian Cisovsky inside the box.The livewire forward picked himself up to score from the spot, and Cisovsky was shown a red card for the foul.
The away side began to toy with their opponents, exploiting the gaps created by Cisovsky's dismissal.Two minutes into first-half injury time, Messi played a delightful one-two with Adriano before sliding his finish past Roman Pavlik in the Plzen goal.
Cesc Fabregas made it 3-0 on 71 minutes with a headed effort, getting on the end of Isaac Cuenca's perfectly-weighted cross.Messi then completed his hat-trick, adding gloss to the score-line with a well-taken finish after rounding Pavlik in stoppage time.
Also on Tuesday, AC Milan gave up the lead to draw 1-1 away to Belarusian side BATE.Milan opened the scoring 22 minutes into the match at the Horodskiy Stadium.Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic disposed defender Marko Simic and played the ball to strike-partner Robinho, before receiving the return pass and finding the back of the net.
Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati was forced into two good saves from BATE forward Maksim Skavysh following swift counter-attacks by the home side.Robinho should have extended the lead when he hit the post just before the break, and the Serie A champions were left to rue that missed opportunity when Ignazio Abate fouled Artyom Kontsevoi inside the box 10 minutes into the second half.
Renan Bressan scored from the spot to make it 1-1.Kevin-Prince Boateng had a chance to snatch victory late on for Milan but BATE survived, claiming a credible point against their heavyweight visitors.
Finish missing for Villas-Boas´ Chelsea 2 November 2011
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas rued missed chances as his side were held to a 1-1 draw by Genk in the Champions League.
Ramires had put the visitors on course in Belgium on Tuesday with a first-half strike, but a missed penalty from David Luiz proved costly as Jelle Vossen equalised in the second period for the hosts with their first Champions League strike of the group stage.
The surprise result leaves the Blues without a win in the last three games, but the Chelsea boss is not panicking and highlighted the positives of his side’s performance."The first half was very good," he told Sky Sports.
"We managed to get the goal we wanted.""I think we had fantastic opportunities after (the Genk equaliser) to win the game, to turn the score to 2-1, but it just didn’t happen. (In the) second half we went down a level. We have to get the opportunities into the back of the net."
There was general surprise that Luiz was charged with taking the penalty ahead of Fernando Torres and Nicolas Anelka, but Villas-Boas confirmed the Brazilian was one of two potential takers on the pitch at that time.
"Niko (Nicolas Anelka) and David were penalty takers tonight," the manager explained. "2-0 up before half-time is always the ideal situation, but we couldn’t manage it.""In the first half there was also Raul’s (Meireles) shot so we were near to scoring one more goal, but it’s gone and they scored, and then when we chased the game we had one or two opportunities to score but not enough to take the three points."
The Blues had dominated the majority of the Group E clash, but yet more poor defending let them down as Genk forced their way back into the game through Vossen’s strike. However, Villas-Boas refused to lay blame on his back four.
"I think there was good, solid organisation like we have been doing," he added."I think one day we will manage to get into the momentum that we had at Queens Park Rangers.""We have to have good quality attacking opportunities and also finishing opportunities, and at the moment it’s not happening for us."
"Not everything is negative but we could have played better."Chelsea will seal qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a victory over Bayer Leverkusen in their next group match, on November 23.
Arsene Wenger said resting Robin van Persie for Arsenal's 0-0 Champions League draw with Marseille 'was a gamble that didn't pay off'.
After his hat-trick in the English Premier League against Chelsea, the Dutch striker was left on the bench until the hour-mark against Marsille, when he replaced the ineffectual Park Chu-Young.
His late arrival in the match did not pay dividends, however, as the Gunners failed to produce enough chances in a second half where they looked physically drained following their exploits against London rivals Chelsea.
"It was a gamble that you can say tonight did not come off," Wenger said to Sky Sports when asked about his reason for leaving his captain on the bench."He was very tired after the game on Saturday so we planned to rest him and make him come on later.""He had the chance though - so if he scores that then it looks like perfect play - but overall we did not create enough."
Wenger felt the Ligue 1 outfit was a tough side to face following the game against Chelsea, and bemoaned his team's general lack of sharpness.But he did have praise for their much-improved defending, where the beginnings of a sound central partnership was shown between Per Mertesacker and Thomas Vermaelen.
"I felt tonight that we defended very well. It is good that we didn't concede tonight because it was very difficult to score in the second half because Marseille were very strong physically," he said."We lacked a bit of sharpness you could see after Saturday's game - we had not got it out of our systems."
"We tried very hard but we lacked some quality in the final third to finish off our chances.""We had a few in the first half; Aaron Ramsey had two and Robin had the very good one in the second half as well.""Overall, we took four points from our two games with Marseille so now we want to win the Dortmund game (on November 23) - we are still in a strong position."
The draw leaves Marseille second, one point behind Arsenal and three ahead of Borussia Dortmund.The Ligue 1 side have a home match against Olympiakos to come, before visiting the German champions on the last match day.
"There's one thing I know, our next home game will be decisive in us qualifying," Marseille coach Didier Deschamps said."We'll keep an eye on what Dortmund will do when they play here (at the Emirates Stadium).""We have seven points. The game is in three weeks.""We expected Dortmund to beat Olympiakos at home so I'm glad we got a point here to increase our tally."
Confidence builds for Emery´s Valencia 2 November 2011
Unai Emery believes that Tuesday's victory over Bayer Leverkusen will galvanise Valencia's bid to stay alive in the Champions League.
The La Liga side got the better of their Group E opponents 3-1 at the Mestalla on Tuesday and, although they remain third in the group, they are now just one point behind second-placed Leverkusen.
Valencia have mustered five points from four matches and Emery said their win over the Bundesliga outfit on matchday four has made them more 'optimistic' of reaching the knock-out stage.
"We've won three points with a victory that also gives us an advantage in terms of goal difference," the Spaniard told UEFA.com."It was a difficult game that we started very strongly.
The injury to Ever Banega (substituted after 24 minutes with knee injury) hurt us a lot and it took us some time to get back into the rhythm of the match."
"Once we rediscovered our touch, however, we managed to score a second goal.""The team showed great strength in what was a hard game where we were forced to find solutions to various problems."
"The result will make us more optimistic but we know we still have two finals left in this group."In the other game in Group E on Tuesday,
Chelsea drew 1-1 with Genk in Belgium to remain top, with eight points.
Roberto Mancini says Manchester City are enjoying a high point in their modern history as they prepare to meet Villarreal on Wednesday.
An expensively assembled squad has fired City to the top of the English Premier League table, and fans at Etihad Stadium are being treated to the spectacle of Champions League football for the first time.
City's next foray into elite continental competition comes with a visit to Spanish side Villarreal, who are struggling this season in La Liga.Italian manager Mancini, a Serie A winner as a player and coach, knows how much it will take for City to retain their standing at the top of the English game.
"This is the best moment for the club in the last 20 years, because we are top of the league, we are playing in the Champions League, we have a good squad," Mancini said."But if you want to stay on the top for a long time we need to improve and we need to continue to work hard, but now we are getting confidence."
City's opponents on Wednesday have themselves become accustomed to featuring in the latter stages of European competition in recent seasons, and reached the last four of the Europa League last term.
They find themselves 13th in the Spanish top flight after a disappointing start to the 2011-12 campaign.But Mancini remains wary ahead of the latest examination of City's credentials at Estadio El Madrigal.
"It is my opinion that it is not easy to play against Villarreal, because Villarreal are a good team that is used to playing in the Champions League for a long time," he said."They have played against Arsenal and Manchester (United) and done very well.
Tomorrow we will be missing four or five players and I think it will be a hard game."
AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri believes his side should have finished off BATE Borisov when they had the chance.
Milan return to Italy with an unsatisfying 1-1 draw in their Champions League Group H encounter in Minsk, after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's early opener was cancelled out by Rennan Bressan's second-half penalty.
Swedish striker Ibrahimovic continued to have chances but was unable to add to his first-half strike, much to the frustration of his coach. "We missed too many goalscoring chances in the first half," Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
"We made mistakes in the final third, and when you fail to finish off the game you risk giving away penalties, corners, and it's a shame as we should have won this game." "In the first half we did well but we kept on missing our chances."
Allegri offered his and the team's thoughts on Antonio Cassano, who is recovering from illness in Milan."It has not been an easy situation for us, this is clear.
We would have liked to have dedicated a win to him, but unfortunately this was not the case," Allegri said.Milan will now turn their attentions to their home clash in Serie A against Catania on Sunday.
Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has heaped praise on his players and claims the Germans are capable of reaching the Champions League final.
The Bundesliga leaders have been in scintillating form this season and top Group A in Europe's most prestigious club competition.
Bayern were drawn in a difficult group alongside Napoli, Manchester City and Villarreal, but lead the section with two victories and one draw so far.
After a 1-1 stalemate at Napoli a fortnight ago, Bayern are preparing for the visit of the Serie A club to the Allianz Arena, and Heynckes says his side are firmly focused on their own preparations.
"We are not aiming for other teams," he said. "Bayern are so dominant that other teams aim for us.""Napoli run a lot, are aggressive and disciplined. That will make them dangerous for us.
We are very well prepared and know how the opposition will play.""Naturally, we will want to win. With a win we can distance ourselves from the competition."
Bayern are being tipped as strong contenders for the Champions League title and the 66-year-old appears to agree with that notion."
After the draw, it was known as the 'group of death' and now we are doing well," Heynckes said. "There are some strong teams, but why should the final be impossible for us?"
Inter´s Nagatomo ruled out of Lille clash 2 November 2011
Japanese defender Yuto Nagatomo will miss Champions League clash against French club Lille with a calf muscle injury.
Nagatomo has been out of touch recently for Inter, who are one point from the relegation zone in 17th place in Serie A.
The former FC Tokyo and Cesena defender was seen working alone away from his team-mates with trainers on Tuesday, according to Inter Channel.
Despite the injury, the Japanese Football Association (JFA) named Nagatomo in their squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Tajikistan and North Korea.
"We've heard the injury isn't serious," a JFA spokesman said."But we're in contact with Inter and once we have a full understanding of the situation we'll make a decision."
Dutt: Leverkusen can still qualify 2 November 2011
Bayer Leverkusen coach Robin Dutt remains hopeful of reaching the Champions League knockout stages despite a 3-1 defeat to Valencia.
Leverkusen conceded just 10.5 seconds after the kick-off in Tuesday's match against Valencia.
Stefan Kiessling levelled for the visitors on 31 minutes, but second-half goals from Roberto Soldado and Adil Rami consigned the Bundesliga side to defeat at Estadio Mestalla.
Although Leverkusen were ultimately unable to take anything from the match, Dutt was nevertheless satisfied with his players efforts.
"I obviously can't be happy about the result especially after conceding a goal after 10 seconds," Dutt said."That could have been avoided by clearing the ball instead of passing it back."
"From there, the team had a positive reaction and were able to find a way back into the tie."
"We expected the fans in the Mestalla to turn on their team if they didn't perform up to par as I said in the pre-match press conference, but we couldn't take advantage of this situation."
Leverkusen remain second in Group E, two points behind leaders Chelsea and one ahead of Valencia.They welcome Chelsea to the BayArena on November 23, before a visit to Genk for the final group-stage fixture on December 6.
And Butt believes his side still have what it takes to hold off a Spanish charge and book their place in the last 16.
"I think that we have very good chances of qualifying to the next round," he said."We still have to play against Chelsea and they will obviously be a very difficult challenge."
"And we also can't underestimate Genk, who have drawn against Chelsea tonight - we're the only team that have been able to beat them."
Blues set to escape censure over chants
Chelsea looked set to avoid action over their fans' taunting of Anton Ferdinand during Tuesday's Champions League game at Genk.
Wenger hails back four performance
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his side's 0-0 draw at home to Marseille was not perfect but he praised his new-look back four for keeping a clean sheet.
Zabaleta wants tensions cleared
Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta wants to solve the dispute between his side and Villarreal prior to Wednesday night's Champions League clash at El Madrigal.
Fletcher feeling fighting fit
Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher insists he was never worried about his ability to return from the virus that sidelined him for half a year.
Cech: We must do it the hard way
Goalkeeper Petr Cech says Chelsea will have to "do it the hard way" in their Champions League group after drawing 1-1 away to Genk on Tuesday.
Pereira perplexed by Porto defeat
Porto manager Vitor Pereira was perplexed at how his men fell to a shock 2-1 defeat to APOEL in their Champions League clash.
Milito happy with domestic break
Inter Milan striker Diego Milito is confident he and his team-mates can put their domestic woes behind them and beat Lille at the San Siro.
"Trabzonspor stadium a burning volcano"
Aleksandr Cauna has warned CSKA Moscow must conquer a "boiling volcano" when they meet Trabzonspor in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Dinamo aiming to survive in Europe
Dinamo Zagreb coach Krunoslav Jurcic is hoping his side can beat Ajax at their own game in Amsterdam on Wednesday night.
Wenger: RVP gamble was a failure
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his decision to rest Robin van Persie against Marseille was a failure after their 0-0 Champions League draw.
Klopp: Dortmund deserved lucky win
Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp admitted his side had "a little bit of luck" in beating Olympiacos in the Champions League.
AVB frustrated with Chelsea stalemate
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas was frustrated at his side's inability to beat Genk after the two clubs fought to a 1-1 Champions League stalemate.
Allegri: AC Milan were too wasteful
AC Milan manager Massimilano Allegri believes his side were too wasteful in their 1-1 Champions League stalemate with BATE Borisov.
Cleverley set to miss Galati clash Tom Cleverley looks certain to miss Manchester United's Champions League encounter with Otelul Galati after sitting out training on Tuesday morning.
Zabaleta wants tensions cleared Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta wants to solve the dispute between his side and Villarreal prior to Wednesday night's Champions League clash at El Madrigal.
City snatched a dramatic 2-1 win with an injury-time Sergio Aguero goal last time the sides met at the Etihad Stadium a fortnight ago.
City celebrated their first win in Champions League football feverishly but amid the euphoria there was a sour note as Aguero was later accused of mocking Villarreal players by people from the Spanish club.
Aguero denied the accusations and fellow Argentinian Zabaleta wants to make sure all is forgotten by having a word with another of their countrymen before kick-off.
Zabaleta, 26, said: "I don't know what happened in the last game with Sergio in the tunnel. "But I know some players from Villarreal, especially Gonzalo Rodriguez, and I will try to speak to him to say what happened in the last game is finished.
"We need to try to focus on the next game. That is most important for us and for the Villarreal players as well." City's last-gasp success last time out changed the complexion of Group A as Bayern Munich and Napoli simultaneously played out a draw.
Roberto Mancini's men are still third but just a point behind Napoli and three off Bayern's top spot. Yet there is still work to be done and Zabaleta added: "We are in a tough group with difficult teams. "We know it is going to be very hard and it is tight in front of us.
"If we want to get into first or second position we need to try to get three points tonight." Zabaleta was speaking at City's pre-match press conference where the subject of a certain other Argentinian was raised as Mancini spoke.
Mancini has spoken little about Carlos Tevez since accusing the striker of refusing to play against Bayern five weeks ago. Tevez was last week found guilty of that offence and five other breaches of contract by City and is currently frozen out of the first-team picture.
Yet Mancini says he would welcome the 27-year-old back into the fold if he was to apologise. Mancini said: "In life everyone can make mistakes but it is important to apologise in every situation. "These are the crucial words, these easy words, when you make some mistake in life."
Tevez has argued throughout the saga that he only refused to warm up, not to play outright. He has previously apologised to fans for a "misunderstanding" over the matter. Tevez's representatives chose not to comment on Mancini's remarks on Tuesday.
Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri says it would be historic if his club could successfully qualify for the Champions League knockout phase.
The Italians were given little chance of surviving Group A after the draw placed them alongside Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Villarreal.But they are sitting second in the section with five points from three games, much to Mazzarri's delight, and the 50-year-old coach said his team had surprised many doubters with their strong showing.
"Everybody said we would maybe get one or two points at best from our first three games in this group," Mazzarri said."We came into this group as the fourth seeds and we are already above Villarreal and also Manchester City.""This was not expected and it is exceptional, and all we do from now on is a bonus.
If we managed to get through this group, it would be extraordinary and, in my opinion, historic."Mazzarri then turned his attention to Wednesday's away game against Bayern Munich and predicted the Allianz Arena would provide an intimidating environment for his men.
"Just think that (Bayern) are a club who provide five candidates out of the 50 for the Ballon d'Or. I don't know how many Barcelona have, but I think only they and Bayern can have this kind of record," he said."I am curious to see how the lads perform in a stadium which, even if we had only come here to play a friendly match in pre-season, would have given our players goosebumps."
Garrido: We must lift to beat City 2 November 2011
Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido says his side will have to play the game of their lives to beat Manchester City in the Champions League.
The Spanish outfit were beaten 2-1 away from home against the Premier League club, and Garrido realises that Wednesday's Group A clash at El Madrigal will be another difficult encounter.
"We know we are up against a great team, and we know how well they have been doing in their league but knowing that will help us to focus on the game," Garrido said.
"Playing a team like Manchester City should give players a reason to give 100 percent, and we will do our best to win. We have to play the match of our lives."
"With the odds against us, Villarreal will become stronger and fight harder. Two weeks ago we deserved more in Manchester, but we have two options: let our heads drop or grow up, and that's what we will try to do."
Villarreal are bottom of Group A and are without a point from their three matches so far. Bayern Munich top the standings on seven points, with Napoli on five and City on four.
You guys should watch this game last night. Thrilling! At 3-2, Napoli's goalkeeper De Sanctis treated it like a final, came out his box and was caught with a long ball lobbed towards his empty goal post. Had he not save it in time it would have been 4-2! And Fernandez is a defender!
