Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi has said Sergio Aguero's dramatic late winning penalty against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League was "what we expect of him."
Aguero, described by Paul Scholes as the only Premier League player good enough to be a starter for Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, struck from the spot with time running out to net his third goal of the season and give City a 2-1 win.
Although he has struggled to find his best form at times in a season hit by a spell on the sidelines through injury, defender Otamendi believes the coolness he showed to win the match in Germany bodes well.
"Strikers need to score goals. The more goals they score, the more confident they feel," he said.
"But it's not only him -- we must not forget the rest of the attacking players, and we need them all at a top level.
"We must remember that Sergio has a lot of experience of playing in Europe. He showed a lot of confidence, taking the penalty, and for us he is a key player. That's what we expect of him."
Otamendi, who joined Manchester City from Valencia, said he did not believe that English clubs had a problem in the Champions League, describing poor results as "bad luck."
English clubs could see their number of Champions League places cut from four to three after recent struggles.
"The Premier League is really tough," he said. "I don't think the Premier League is going down a level. You have all the best players in this competition. I've played in La Liga, and I can say the Premier League is really tough.
"I think it was a question of bad luck... it was pure coincidence that the English teams got bad results."
He said City "know they have to improve" in the Champions League, in which they lost their opening group game to Juventus, but added: "The most important thing is that we got the three points, and now we have to focus on the next game [against Sevilla]."
Otamendi praised his colleagues at the Etihad Stadium for helping him to settle in to life in England, adding: "Everyone at the club has made everything really easy for me -- not only for me but the whole family. This gives me the confidence to focus on my football.
"The family is settling in very well and we are happy."