Sterling believes Man. City are strong contenders

Raheem Sterling is confident Manchester City can go on and make a strong impact in the Champions League after progressing as group winners on Tuesday.

City claimed one of the top spots in the first stage of the competition for the first time as they came from behind to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-2 with two Sterling goals.

The result took them above Juventus to the top of Group D and means they will avoid the likes of Barcelona – their conquerors in the past two seasons – Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the last 16.

Match-winner Sterling said: “It gives us massive belief. We all know this is a team that is going to score goals.

“We just have to be more solid on the whole and keep more teams at bay.

“I think it is just a matter of time and working on it as a team. Definitely it’s paying off and hopefully we can carry that on to the next round.

“It was just trying to avoid probably some of the big guns in the next round and trying to get a good draw, as we know we can probably do it over two legs against most teams. We are just waiting for the draw now and will see who we get and take it from there.”

City left it late against the Germans at the Etihad Stadium but their...