Man City travel to Naples on Tuesday knowing a win can guarantee them a place in the Champions League knock-out stages.
City can secure qualification with a win
Man City travel to Naples for their penultimate UEFA Champions League group game on Tuesday knowing a win against Napoli can guarantee them a place in the knock-out stages.
City are currently in second place in Group A, three points behind leaders Bayern Munich and two ahead of Tuesday's opponents.
Roberto Mancini blamed opening day nerves for their 1-1 draw with the Serie A outfit at the Etihad Stadium in September.
Aleksandar Kolarov's thunderous free-kick spared City a costly defeat on their Champions League debut, in a performance at odds with their dominant Premier League displays.
But City are learning fast and lessons were heeded from the draw with the Italians, as they were in that 2-0 defeat in Munich a fortnight later.
Two consecutive wins against Villarreal - the latter an utterly dominant 3-0 victory in El Madrigal earlier this month - means City can qualify from Group A with a game to spare with victory in the Stadio Sao Paolo on Tuesday.
That though will be easier said than done as the Premier League leaders will have to battle a hostile crowd as well as the 11 players on the pitch.
The Stadio Sao Paolo is one of the more atmospheric grounds on the continent and an away team has not won there in Europe for 17 years. City can be guaranteed a ferocious welcome when they take to the field.
The fans will, however, spare a warm welcome for City forward Sergio Aguero, whose father-in-law Diego Maradona is still revered by Napoli fans after he helped them to two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990.
Defeat for City would see Napoli leapfrog them into second and leave Mancini's men needing a win against leaders Bayern Munich in their final game, as well as a favour from Villarreal, to secure passage to the knock-out stages and thus avoid dropping into the Europa League.
Falling into Europe's second competition is an outcome Mancini is desperate to avoid given the ramifications it could have on their Premier League title bid.
The Italian has therefore taken a strong squad with him to Naples, with only the ineligible Owen Hargreaves and outcast Carlos Tevez unavailable.
Yaya Toure and Aguero both limped off in the 3-1 win against Newcastle at the weekend but are expected to be fit.
Napoli news
Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri has been quick to lift the pressure from his side and pile it on his English counterparts, saying he is just delighted to still be in with a shout of qualification at this stage of the competition.
They - like City - have grown as the group stages have progressed, beating Villarreal before taking a credible draw against Bayern.
They slipped to a narrow 3-2 defeat in Munich last time out but their display still gave plenty of encouragement for Mazzarri.
Their 0-0 draw with Lazio at the weekend was their fifth clean sheet in seven Serie A matches, but they have won just once in seven across all competitions.
The pressure will be on star trio Marek Hamsik, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani - all rumoured to be on City's radar - to lead the Napoli charge.
Uruguay midfielder Walter Gargano made his comeback against Lazio at the weekend and is in contention for at least a place on the bench. Goran Pandev also made a return after recovering from a muscle strain suffered last month.
