Ryan Babel blasts "big egos" at Manchester City

Ajax winger Ryan Babel believes that inflated egos will prevent Manchester City side from becoming a truly great team.

Babel helped Ajax to an impressive 3-1 victory over the Premier League champions a fortnight ago, leaving City's Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

The Netherlands international thinks that Ajax are able to compete with their big-spending rivals because of their superior team spirit.

He told the Daily Mail: "Against City in the first game you could see the perfect example of a real team effort by Ajax against a team of individuals. "We noticed how the frustration got the better of them during the game. And we saw how the players were directing those frustrations towards each other.

"That is the danger of a club with so many big-name players and so many big egos. When the going gets tough, they are not prepared to do the hard work for each other."

City will be eliminated from the Champions League tonight if Frank de Boer's side score a victory at the Eithad.