Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta hails "important" opening Champions League win

Pablo Zabaleta has insisted that it was "important" for Manchester City to get their Champions League group campaign off to a winning start.

Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick and Kelechi Iheanacho nabbed a goal of his own as Pep Guardiola's side sealed a comfortable 4-0 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach.

The Premier League outfit, who will also face Celtic and Barcelona in Group C, had to wait 24 hours to play after the original fixture was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at the Etihad Stadium.

"We could have scored a few more goals," Zabaleta told BT Sport. "We played really decent football tonight. I thought we were on top of them from the first minute until the end. We knew how important it was today to win the first game. We're in a very tough group, so it was a huge win today.

"Psychologically it was hard because you've been working hard after derby game and we were so focused. It was one of those days when you prepare and the weather conditions were not the best.

"Now we have to play Celtic away. People say they are the weakest team but I don't agree with that - they are very strong, especially at home. Every single game is going to be difficult. All the home games are so important for us."

City and Barcelona have three points, while Gladbach and Celtic are yet to get off the mark in the tournament