Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has defended the form of Yaya Toure going into their Champions League tie with Barcelona.

Toure's performances in Fernandinho's absence were the subject of scrutiny but Pellegrini feels any criticism was unfair.

He said: "Yaya is a very important player for us.

"I have listened to some questions about the way he plays and Yaya plays the way I want him to play.

"He stayed only defending against Norwich because we did not have another defensive midfielder, but I think we lost an important midfielder attacking. He scores a lot of goals and gives a lot of creativity to our team.

"Playing with Javi Garcia or Fernandinho is the way I want him to play, so he is free and can give us a lot of offensive moments.

"But he knows also he has to defend and he can do it without any problems."