The Europa League is often seen as the poor relation to the Champions League but that is not an argument you will hear from Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini. The Italian believes the Europa League is now "a great competition" and a means of ending 35 years without a trophy.
Dynamo Kiev, City's next opponents, stepped down from the Champions League after losing to Ajax in the play-offs and Mancini said: "The Europa League is a great competition.
"There are big teams in it. You can get to the quarter-finals and meet an important team.
"There are a lot of well-known sides in the competition. All the teams we can play usually play in the Champions League. It is a little Champions League. All the teams are big ones."
