AS Roma defender Ashley Cole says the pressure is on Manchester City when the Citizens host the Serie A side at the Etihad Stadium for Tuesday night's Champions League clash.
Manuel Pellegrini's men have conquered the English Premier League last season, having previously won the title two seasons before that, establishing themselves as a team to reckon with in Europe, but are yet to announce themselves on the great stage.
The Manchester side crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage in two consecutive years under the reign of former boss Roberto Mancini, and were only able to qualify for the round of 16 under the guidance of their current Chilean manager.
The mega-rich club kicked off the new campaign with a 1-0 loss away to Bundesliga holders Bayern Munich, but will be looking to return to winning ways when they host Rudi Garcia's men. Roma, on the other hand, will look to build on their impressive 5-1 win over Russian side CSKA Moscow.
"There's a lot of pressure on City," the 33-year-old Englishman stated. "They have big players and are hungry to win the Champions League.
"We are probably the underdogs but we will give it everything and will give them a tough game."
Pressure is on Man City for the UCL clash with Roma, argues Ashley Cole
The Citizens will be looking to get their UCL campaign running after falling to a 1-0 loss to Bayern in their opening game
Spending eight successful years the Blues, Cole will be facing a former team-mate and good friend, with Frank Lampard set to feature for Manchester City. However, the defender admitted he didn't expect to cross path with the midfielder so soon after their summer Stamford Bridge departure.
"It will be great to play against people like Joe Hart and Lamps," Cole further added. "I never expected to play against him.
"If I am selected and Lamps is selected it would be nice.
"Everyone knows what Lampard brings to any team - he's a great experienced player who scores goals."
Lampard and Cole were team-mates at Chelsea from 2006 to 2014, but will now go head-to-head on Tuesday night
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