Villarreal hope Haaland has off day in Champions League

Villarreal players would rather be playing against the likes of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland in the Champions League than being "sat at home", says manager Marcelino.

The La Liga outfit face a City side spearheaded by the in-form Haaland, who has racked up scored a remarkable 23 goals in 13 games for club and country this season including netting in 11 consecutive games.

City themselves are on a fine run, unbeaten in their past eight games in all competitions before facing Villarreal in Spain on Tuesday (kick-off 20:00 BST).

"Hopefully it won't be a 12th game in a row [for Haaland]," said Marcelino. "If I say he is the best number nine in the world, I won't be saying anything somebody hasn't said before.

"We want to play against players like this. We would rather be playing them than sat at home. We want to live this atmosphere, but to do this we need to play against the best. It helps us grow. That's the excitement we want.

"For Haaland, we will try to make sure he receives the ball as little as possible – although he can score with hardly any touches. I hope the 12th game is the one where he won't be able to score."