MANCHESTER -- Gerard Pique believes Manchester City will miss Yaya Toure when they face the midfielder's former club Barcelona on Tuesday.
Toure serves the last game of a three-match European suspension after he was sent off against CSKA Moscow in November.
And while former Manchester United defender Pique is wary of the threat of his Spain team-mate David Silva, he believes Toure's absence could benefit Barcelona.
"He is a very, very important player for them," Pique said in a news conference. "When he was at Barca, he makes us work very hard in defence. There is a difference when he isn't there."
Silva struck twice in City's 5-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday and Pique feels he is the pivotal player in the Premier League champions' side.
"He is the player that makes them tick more than anyone," he added. "When he has the ball, they play. He carries the ball and is very important to them, like he did last weekend. He is a fantastic player, a top player. When he was at Valencia, you could tell he had great technical quality."
City have never reached the last eight of the Champions League but Pique, a 2009 and 2011 winner of the competition, feels the English club have the potential to scale such heights in future seasons.
"In the Premier League they are showing they are one of the best teams in the world," he added. "I hope, not this year, but in the next years they will be fighting for this competition."
Pique denied the clash at the Etihad Stadium is the biggest of Barcelona's season, saying: "We are competing for the league title every year. We have reached February competing for the title. We are always in finals and semifinals of Champions League. It is not more important than other games of the season.
"We are still considered to be one of the top five teams of the world but I don't think there is anything more at stake other than playing for access to the quarterfinals of the Champions League."
Pique also downplayed claims that the defeat at the weekend had highlighted tensions between the squad and Luis Enrique.
The Spain international said: "There are no problems between ourselves and the manager. We get on fine, the relationship is good.
"We are just off the bounce of 11 wins. We have demonstrated and know what we have to do. Good results are the only way to show people the team is just like it was three days ago.
"We are playing well, on the right lines. We are playing good football. You can always have the odd slip-up."