Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta says Celtic are not to be taken lightly in the Champions League.

The Scottish champions were punished 7-0 by Barcelona at Camp Nou on Tuesday night and will meet City in their next Group C match at Parkhead on September 28.

Despite their thrashing, City defender Zabaleta does not believe there is a lack of quality within Brendan Rodgers' squad and has urged City to step up yet again after beating Borussia Monchengladbach 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.

"Next up are Celtic and we are paying no attention to their loss at Barcelona which we know as well as anyone is a difficult place to go and play," said Zabaleta.

"People have said they are the weakest team in the group but I don't agree with that at all.

"They may have had a bad day at the Nou Camp but they are very strong team in their own stadium and we're expecting every game to be difficult but we'll go to Parkhead and try to get three points and play the same way we did against Monchengladbach."