Manchester City are "far from superior" to Borussia Monchengladbach, according to the Bundesliga side's caretaker boss, Andre Schubert.
City travel to Gladbach on Wednesday as both sides go in search of their first points in Group D.
Manuel Pellegrini's men go into the game at Borussia Park as favourites despite losing three of their last four games in all competitions, but Schubert said he was confident his players were up to the challenge.
"Manchester are a very, very good team with outstanding players, but they are far from superior," he told the prematch news conference. "We will not be awestruck. They've got strengths and weaknesses.
"We'll put on a great fight, and we'll see about the result when the game's finished."
Gladbach are playing in the Champions League group stage for the first time, having finished third in the Bundesliga last season, but they made a dismal start to the current campaign.
A run of five successive Bundesliga defeats, as well as a 3-0 loss to Sevilla in their Champions League opener, led coach Lucien Favre to resign earlier this month.
Since Schubert took the reins, though, they have recovered their form with back-to-back wins against Augsburg and Stuttgart, and the stand-in coach stressed that they remain a strong side.
"The team did not win the right to qualify at a fun fair," he said. "They have qualities."
The former Paderborn and St Pauli coach said it would be "a day of celebration" for the Gladbach fans as they watch their team play a home Champions League tie for the first time, and he said his players would be going out in search of victory.
"We are aware of our strengths," he said. "We want to show them on the pitch and, of course, that's always down to the opponent, but it makes no sense to be afraid, and only hope to survive the 90 minutes."
He added: "We'll be attacking and looking to score goals. We will not only defend. We'll see what City will allow us to do."
Gladbach defender Alvaro Dominguez, meanwhile, said he is confident that with a team effort they will be able to stop City's attacking line.
"As a team we can stop everyone, be it Kevin De Bruyne, Kun Aguero or Raheem Sterling," he said.