Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has labelled Celtic striker Moussa Dembele as “exceptional” ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash at the Etihad Stadium.

The France under-21 international caused huge problems for City in the first match in the competition between the pair at Celtic Park, scoring twice in the 3-3 draw.

While Guardiola refused to confirm any potential interest in bringing the Celtic forward to the English giants in the future, he was full of praise for the former Paris Saint Germain and Fulham youngster.

“If you read the newspapers in the last six months since I became coach of Manchester City, maybe I’ve been in contact with 126 players to buy for Manchester City, so Dembele is another one,” Guardiola said.

“So every week I contact for the next season maybe 10 players, Alexis [Sanchez] was the last one.

“For his qualities though, he is an exceptional player.”

Dembele wasn’t the only Hoops player to make an impression on the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach when he took his star-studded City squad north in September.

And even though tonight’s return fixture is a dead rubber with City having qualified and Celtic confirmed as the group’s bottom side, Guardiola maintains he is full of respect for the quality of the Celtic squad.

“In Glasgow they played so aggressively,” he said. “They played quite well so my impressions of the team are really good.

“I don’t know what my colleague [Brendan Rodgers] is going to do tomorrow because obviously they have no chance to stay in the Champions League or the Europa League, but it was a good impression they left with the wingers, not just Dembele, but with Patrick Roberts and [Scott] Sinclair.

“They are a really good team and it will be a good test for us. It’s perfect for us to play this game in our last game.

“I didn’t expect that before that we would play this game already having qualified for the next round, so I’m happy.

“I have a lot of respect for the way they play, and of course it will be a tough game, but it will be good and hopefully the people will enjoy the game tomorrow.”

While Celtic’s participation in the continent’s elite competition this season has made a favourable impression with Guardiola, he was less than empathetic about the increasing difficulty that clubs from smaller countries have as they try to make their mark on the tournament.

14 of the remaining 16 clubs in the Champions League come from Europe’s top five leagues, but Guardiola said: “That’s fantastic, what is the problem? You cannot expect to play in the quarter finals or the semi-finals with the minor leagues, the major leagues have better players, more money, the history.

“That is a normal situation and it is good, I prefer for football, for everybody, the best teams to be there. I like that.”

City goalkeeper Willy Caballero, who may be in line for a rare start in tonight’s game, has meanwhile warned Celtic that there is no way his side will be taking the game lightly.

According to the Argentinian, the relentless desire of their manager and squad to win, as well as a determination to get back on track after the disappointment of the weekend defeat to Chelsea, means that Celtic are guaranteed a tough night.

Just playing Champions League is a big motivation,” Caballero said. “To hear the sound of the Champions League anthem is a big motivation for every player and it is the most important competition in the world as a team as a player. This is enough. We have to respect this kind of game and we are going to play against a champion team so we have to be focused and play the same way as we did against Borussia and Barcelona.

“We have to be professional, respectful to them and we have to arrive with ambition. I don't know how Celtic thinks about the game or how the manager tries to prepare for the game but I know my team-mates and I know my boss.

“We are going to try from the first minute to win this game. We lost at home so we need to recover our sensation of being a winning team and the only way to do that is to win tomorrow.”

Caballero knows that he and his teammates will also be coming up against a motivated Celtic outfit, despite the Hoops already being eliminated from the competition.

He has therefore stressed the importance of approaching the challenge posed by Celtic in the proper manner.

“I think they have a lot of quality, a lot of big, big players,” he said. “But we have to think and play our way to win this game. We have to be focused on every single player and every single situation against Celtic.

“What matters how we arrive to the game and how we play every minute and if we can create a lot of chances like we did the last game.”