Guardiola 'incredibly confident' in resurgent Man City before Villarreal clash

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes his team's newfound ability to bounce back from poor results has instilled confidence ahead of facing Villarreal on Tuesday. 

City travel to Estadio de la Ceramica to take on the LaLiga side in what will be the third match of their Champions League campaign in 2025-26. 

The Citizens were held by Monaco in their last encounter in UEFA's flagship tournament, following on from an opening-day triumph against Napoli at Etihad Stadium. 

Guardiola's side are enjoying a fine run of recent form, going unbeaten in their last eight games in all competitions after falling to back-to-back defeats in the Premier League against Tottenham and Brighton in August.

They moved up to second in the top-flight standings over the weekend, just three points adrift of leaders Arsenal, though Guardiola was not getting too carried away. 

"When we have played just eight Premier League games and two Champions League games. You have the feeling that every game is better than the previous one," he said.

"This doesn't define seasons, but we talk a lot about what we can do better. I'm incredibly confident in the players and the team. These players are capable."

Villarreal and City's two previous meetings came in the Champions League group stage in 2011-12, with the English side winning both fixtures that year (2-1 at home, 3-0 away).

The Spanish side find themselves down in 26th in the 36-team league standings after taking one point from their first two games upon their return to Europe's top table. 

Marcelino's team have failed to win their last three matches in all competitions, drawing against Real Betis and Juventus along with a defeat to Real Madrid in LaLiga. 

Guardiola has never lost against Villarreal in his managerial career, facing them on eight occasions (W5 D3). The only Spanish opponents he has faced more times without suffering defeat are Athletic Bilbao (14) and Valencia (10), but he is expecting a tough test here. 

"When you see a Marcelino team without knowing that Marcelino is on the bench, you recognise his style of play," the City boss added. 

"So when a team manages to go back to the Champions League in a league as competitive as the Spanish, that has to be something.

"I admire and respect him very much, but on the other hand, we're really looking forward to playing a good game tomorrow night.

"We score a lot of goals, create a lot of chances, and we didn't concede much, but tomorrow is another test."

Marcelino and Guardiola last faced each other as opposition managers in October 2011 in LaLiga (Barcelona 0-0 Sevilla). This will be the longest gap that the City boss has gone between games against a specific opposition manager in his career (5,113 days between the two matches).

Villarreal are still looking for their first win in the Champions League this season (D1 L1). Only once previously have they had fewer than two points after their first three group-stage games in a single edition, losing all three in 2011-12. 

And while the odds may be stacked against them, Marcelino promised his team would embrace both the joy and pain of hosting the Premier League giants. 

"We expect it to be very difficult, just like against Juventus. We're playing against a former European champion," Marcelino said.

"And that's something we should be happy about, because we've earned it. Now we have to enjoy it and suffer through it.

"If we want to grow, these matches are a learning experience. We hope to rise to the occasion in front of our fans and achieve a good result."