ONLY Cristiano Ronaldo is a better player than Manchester City's hat-trick hero Sergio Aguero, his team-mate Samir Nasri has claimed.

And the Frenchman insisted the Argentinian striker is as good as his compatriot Lionel Messi and Uruguay's Luis Suarez, both of whom play for Barcelona.

Aguero's three-goal haul against Bayern Munich on Tuesday single-handedly revived City's Champions League hopes.

He scored twice in the last five minutes as the English champions came from behind to beat the 10-man Germans 3-2 in a dramatic finale at the Etihad Stadium.

The 26-year-old hitman has now scored 17 goals in 18 appearances this season after struggling with injuries in the latter half of last term.

City manager Manuel Pellegrini has urged Aguero to challenge for the Ballon D'Or trophy awarded annually to the world's best player and currently held by Real Madrid and Portugal superstar Ronaldo.

But Nasri has no doubt his colleague belongs in the same lofty company.

He said: "Sergio is a great player on his day. He is unstoppable.

"Against Bayern we needed him and once again he delivered.

"At the moment he is one of best players in the world. Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo, who is on another planet, he is up there with Messi and Suarez.

"Sergio has been unbelievable this season. He was last season as well, the only problem was his injury. This year he has been fitter and when he is one-on-one with the keeper it doesn't seem like he will miss the target.

"He always makes the difference and always delivers for us in difficult moments."

City know that a win against Roma in Italy two weeks from now will send them through to the knockout stages of the Champions League if CSKA Moscow fail to beat Bayern in Germany.

Nasri added: "We did just what we needed to keep our chances alive. It was a great result, but we need to win in Rome or it won't count."

The manner of their comeback brought back memories of City's dramatic title-clinching Barclays Premier League win over QPR in 2012, when Aguero was again the last-gasp hero.

Nasri, 27, said: "We have the quality but it is always difficult at Man City - we always win in a difficult way! We won the league three years ago in the last minute.

"It is always like this but, at the same time, when we win it is special and it is fantastic for us.

"In the Champions League we had to win our last two games to go through. It was a miracle to still have a chance when we had only two points with two games left in the group."