West Ham fullback Pablo Zabaleta believes his former Manchester City teammates will be doubly motivated to win the Champions League after their two season ban.

If City's appeal to the court of Arbitration for Sport fails, it will be the last chance of wining's Europe's elite club competition for long-serving players like David Silva, who will leave the club after a decade of service in the summer, and possibly striker Sergio Aguero.

"It's a huge game, of course," he said. "It has been a tough week for the whole Manchester City football group, players, staff and everyone. But I think they should bring everyone together now and just focus on a competition that the club - and some of the players who have been here for so long - have been trying to win. I know what winning it means to them.

"The UEFA decision will increase the motivation for sure because everyone at the club trusts the people in charge and what they have done.

"I know some of the players have been here for so long, they have won all the domestic competitions, so winning the Champions League is massive for some of them. But if they have been here so long that is because they always felt it was the right place for them.

"I don't know what will happen at the end of the season whether it will be the two-year ban or it is reduced to a single year or maybe they can prove everything was done right, and hopefully, fingers crossed, it will be.

"In the meantime, the players should let Ferran Soriano [City's chief executive] and his people deal with all the legal issues and just concentrate on what happens on the field. In the Premier League there is a big gap between them and Liverpool so the Champions League next week is going to be huge for City."