Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has stressed the importance of his side picking up maximum points against their two big Group E opponents if they are to progress in the Champions League.
The Citizens remain without a win from their opening two games in Europe this season, having been held to a 1-1 draw by Roma at the Etihad Stadium last night.
It follows on from the late 2-1 defeat against Bayern Munich a fortnight ago, and Kompany says that it is "imperative" City redeem themselves against both teams in the return fixtures.
"It could go any way really," Goal.com quotes the Belgium international as saying. "Roma have matches against Bayern, one of the teams will lose points and that will leave us with an opportunity to gain points.
"You are probably looking at the Roma return game and the Bayern game and we really hope that we can get the six points. It's imperative we win those games. Winning won't just open up the door for second place but first place as well.
"I don't think you can really aim for second place but if we get into contention to go to the next round we'll be very close to first place."
City must first face CSKA Moskow in back-to-back games, with the first of those meetings taking place in three weeks' time.