Manchester City have been touted as one of the favorites to win the Champions League, as per Marseille boss Andre Villas-Boas.
Manchester City are blessed for depth that their “B team” can compete for the Champions League, says Villas-Boas.
Marseille take on the Citizens on Wednesday night and they retain a chance of finishing third in their group provided they better Olympiacos’ result.
With City already through to the next round and one eye on the Manchester derby by the weekend, Guardiola is expected to heavily rotate his side despite claiming he won’t do so ahead of the game.
Marseille might see that as a window of opportunity but Villas-Boas does not see it from that angle. The Portuguese manager believes the Premier League giants are a ‘strong’ outfit no matter what XI they put out.
Villas-Boas said at his press conference as per Goal: “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.”
Guardiola is yet to win the Champions League with City in his five-year stint at the club and Villa-Boas thinks this season could see the Citizens break their duck.
He added: “The expectations have been very high for City but there will be nobody with more willingness to win it than Pep at this moment. Every year that they start they believe it’s going to be their year and they have the capacity and the squad, but it’s down to small details.
“In the Champions League I’m no expert. Pep is the expert, he’s won it twice as a manager.
“City have been waiting so long, and the quality they have is second to none, the options they have.”
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