''Anyone writing off Manchester City's UEFA Cup chances is in danger of setting themself up for a fall on Thursday night as Mark Hughes' men look to claw back a two-goal deficit against Hamburg in their quarter-final second leg.
No doubt they have been swayed by the German side's dominance at the HSV Arena last week despite having initially fallen behind to Stephen Ireland's goal after just 35 seconds.
From that moment on it was pretty much one-way traffic and Hamburg would have scored plenty more had Shay Given not pulled off a number of top-quality saves - including a vital fingertip stop in the dying moments to prevent arguably a final nail in the coffin.
Even so the goals from Joris Mathijsen, Piotr Trochowski - via a penalty - and substitute Jose Guerrero have put them firmly in the driving seat and will be confident of avoiding defeat at Eastlands, let alone by two goals or more.
Martin Jol's men have only lost once in the competition so far but even that setback in a group stage clash against Ajax couldn't prevent them topping the standings while in the previous round they showed no signs of being intimidated in 'Hell' as they claimed a dramatic 3-2 victory against Galatasaray at the Ali Sami Yen.
Domestically they've also been impressive this season and are still in genuine contention for the Bundesliga title although they're now three points behind leaders Wolfsburg following a 1-0 defeat at Stuttgart on Sunday.
By contrast City have ensured a miserable season except for their ongoing progress in Europe and you can see why people think even this run will come to an end on Thursday night.
At the weekend they slipped six points adrift of West Ham in the battle for seventh spot following a 3-1 defeat to Fulham in front of their own disgruntled fans, with a minority chanting 'You don't know what you're doing' at Hughes.
The cash injected by the Abu Dhabi United Group at the start of the season, which allowed Hughes to sensationally swoop for Robinho for £32.5million, has hardly brought the anticipated success - or at least shown the potential of it - and the players are struggling to deliver on the high expectations.
But this is why Thursday night's clash is so important to the club and indeed their manager, who must prove he's the right man to lead them forward and attract more star names in the summer.
He'll struggle to do this if they're not involved in European competition next season and given their predicament in the Premier League, lifting the UEFA Cup trophy looks like being their best route back.
And what better way to turn the jeers into cheers and get all his critics off Hughes' back than guiding City to win their first major trophy of any description since 1976?
To their credit, City - one of our pre-tournament outright tips - have shown enough glimpses of class throughout a largely troubled season to suggest they can win this game 2-0, a result which will take them through on the away goals rule, and that's why we're confident they can still qualify at 3/1 with Betfred.
In their 24 home games in all competitions this season they've won 15 of them - eight of which being by two goals or more - while they've bagged 43 goals.
The enigmatic Robinho will return to the side having started on the bench against the Cottagers and if ever there's been a time to show his brilliant best side in a City shirt, it's now''
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Good summary I'd say
No doubt they have been swayed by the German side's dominance at the HSV Arena last week despite having initially fallen behind to Stephen Ireland's goal after just 35 seconds.
From that moment on it was pretty much one-way traffic and Hamburg would have scored plenty more had Shay Given not pulled off a number of top-quality saves - including a vital fingertip stop in the dying moments to prevent arguably a final nail in the coffin.
Even so the goals from Joris Mathijsen, Piotr Trochowski - via a penalty - and substitute Jose Guerrero have put them firmly in the driving seat and will be confident of avoiding defeat at Eastlands, let alone by two goals or more.
Martin Jol's men have only lost once in the competition so far but even that setback in a group stage clash against Ajax couldn't prevent them topping the standings while in the previous round they showed no signs of being intimidated in 'Hell' as they claimed a dramatic 3-2 victory against Galatasaray at the Ali Sami Yen.
Domestically they've also been impressive this season and are still in genuine contention for the Bundesliga title although they're now three points behind leaders Wolfsburg following a 1-0 defeat at Stuttgart on Sunday.
By contrast City have ensured a miserable season except for their ongoing progress in Europe and you can see why people think even this run will come to an end on Thursday night.
At the weekend they slipped six points adrift of West Ham in the battle for seventh spot following a 3-1 defeat to Fulham in front of their own disgruntled fans, with a minority chanting 'You don't know what you're doing' at Hughes.
The cash injected by the Abu Dhabi United Group at the start of the season, which allowed Hughes to sensationally swoop for Robinho for £32.5million, has hardly brought the anticipated success - or at least shown the potential of it - and the players are struggling to deliver on the high expectations.
But this is why Thursday night's clash is so important to the club and indeed their manager, who must prove he's the right man to lead them forward and attract more star names in the summer.
He'll struggle to do this if they're not involved in European competition next season and given their predicament in the Premier League, lifting the UEFA Cup trophy looks like being their best route back.
And what better way to turn the jeers into cheers and get all his critics off Hughes' back than guiding City to win their first major trophy of any description since 1976?
To their credit, City - one of our pre-tournament outright tips - have shown enough glimpses of class throughout a largely troubled season to suggest they can win this game 2-0, a result which will take them through on the away goals rule, and that's why we're confident they can still qualify at 3/1 with Betfred.
In their 24 home games in all competitions this season they've won 15 of them - eight of which being by two goals or more - while they've bagged 43 goals.
The enigmatic Robinho will return to the side having started on the bench against the Cottagers and if ever there's been a time to show his brilliant best side in a City shirt, it's now''
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Good summary I'd say