Man City ace Kevin de Bruyne: We fear no-one in Europe

David Silva netted an equaliser on the stroke of half-time for City, which fell behind when Raffael drove home emphatically for the host.

“We are super happy to have grabbed this point, happy that in this group we managed to finish third with a game left”.

They were beaten 3-0 at Chelsea and champions Leicester City, before the 3-1 defeat at St Mary’s and the goalless draw at Old Trafford. Pep Guardiola’s men are expected to dominate the lion’s share of possession, but will find it hard to breach the Clarets’ five-man midfield followed by a narrow back four.

Guardiola wants more youth, pace and vibrancy in the full back positions than the ageing Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy and Kolarov can offer, and while that may involve youngster Pablo Maffeo being involved more often, at least one new full-back is expected to arrive.

After being examined by the team doctor, he was diagnosed with ligament damage in his knee.

John Stones was outmuscled in an aerial challenge by Lars Stindl, and his low cross found its way to Raffael, and he fired powerfully past Bravo.

“In Barcelona it was quite tight but with 10 against 11 it was tough”, he said.

“It’s a massive game and hopefully we can get some points from that”, winger and Iceland global Johann Gudmundsson said.

And, ironically, it was the Ivorian who netted both goals to secure three points in his first league outing of the campaign.

De Bruyne loved his time in Germany, and he again showed how much he has continued to grow since his £50 million move from Wolfsburg 15 months ago.

Firstly City have had little training time after their Champions League trip to Borussia Monchengladbach in midweek, while Guardiola also expects Sean Dyche’s men to bounce back after last weekend’s 4-0 thrashing by West Brom.

City will go top of the Premier League, albeit possibly briefly, if they win at Burnley on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

Gladbach got off to a bad start in the second-half.

As for City’s chances of getting beyond the last 16, on the evidence of last night’s display they’ll struggle with their defence once more looking fragile as they conceded an eighth away goal in three European matches, against the team that lies 14th in the Bundesliga.

“It was sometimes necessary today to control the game”.

City’s leaky backline may be what inspired Guardiola to trial a three-man backline, but at the moment whatever formation the Spaniard plays it seems like the opposition can count on grabbing a goal from a defensive mishap.

“The last two months he was fantastic in the training sessions”.

“We’re in the Europa League now”. None of them looked comfortable.

Manchester City know that a win at Turf Moor will put them back on track for title contention.