Mario Balotelli’s our secret weapon, says Roberto Mancini

Posted Tuesday, November 01, 2011 by The Sun

ROBERTO MANCINI believes Mario Balotelli can be Manchester City's Champions League secret weapon.

The Italian bad boy has missed his club's first three matches in the competition due to a suspension hanging over from last season.

And despite their blistering domestic form, unbeaten Premier League leaders City have yet to spark in Europe taking just four points so far without him.

But Balotelli is back in the squad for the trip to Villarreal tomorrow and looks likely to start at El Madrigal.

Super Mario may be only 21 but is a Champions League veteran and has already won it with Inter Milan in 2010.

Now City boss Mancini hopes he will breathe new life into their campaign for the second half of the group stage.

He said: "Mario is going strong and I am convinced that this time it will last. He will be our weapon in the Champions League. He knows the Champions League from his time with Inter.

"It's an important competition for him because it's the first game after his ban."

Mancini is convinced the Etihad outfit will qualify for the knockout stages despite their stuttering start. Villarreal's has been worse and they are yet to get off the mark as well as struggling in La Liga.

But Mancini said: "It will be very hard because they are a strong team at home.

"They are not good in La Liga at this moment but it is still difficult in the Champions League.

"If we want to do a good job we will have to have fresh players and play strongly. I am convinced we will qualify, I think nine points would be enough."

Meanwhile, defender Joleon Lescott says the famous 6-1 victory at Old Trafford has given the players the belief they can go anywhere and win.

He added: "Villarreal is a must win. It will be tough but we are confident of going there and getting a result.

"The way we played against United we are confident we can perform at a high level against any team. If we can do that in the remaining group games we will be a hard team to beat.

"The Champions League is massive for the club so we know how important it is."

The England defender was surprisingly left out for City's nightmare defeat at Bayern Munich back at the end of September.

But apart from that, he has been one of Mancini's regulars and is keen to make up for the setback in the Allianz Arena.

He said: "I was disappointed not to play but you have to respect the manager's decision. I was on the bench but it was a disappointing night as we had been doing well in the league up until that point.

"We had a good result in our first Champions League game against Napoli, and there were positives we could take from the Bayern game. We took them into the game against Villarreal at home — although we left it late in that one!

"You always want to put teams to bed early doors — it's just that it's not always possible in the Champions League."