What a way to celebrate your birthday

The City kit boss and former Latics star writes every week for Chron Sport
IT promises to be a special occasion when Manchester City take on the mighty Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena tonight in the Champions League group stage.

What a breathtaking sporting venue it is. The players walked around it yesterday to get a feel for the place and trained there this morning.

It is even more spectacular than it looks on the television, and when it is crammed with passionate supporters tonight I fully expect an electric atmosphere.

I am glad to finally see it — we drove past it on our way to the Austrian border two seasons in a row during Mark Hughes’ tenure for some summer friendly fixtures.

Ties like this one are what the Champions League is all about. Our hosts have won the competition four times and offer one of the glamour games of the tournament.

Thankfully Nigel De Jong has recovered from his foot injury and travelled with us to Germany, although Adam Johnson has not fully recovered from an ankle knock and won’t feature.

It is my birthday today — I had a few drinks at a beer festival last night. I have my fingers crossed that our lads can do the business on the pitch and give me another reason to celebrate.

They all signed a card and presented it to me — there are a few Spanish expletives I can’t repeat!

Gareth Barry wrote ‘give it to Les on the wing’, which is what the Oldham Athletic fans used to sing about me during my playing days.

Spirits are high following our hard-earned 2-0 victory over Everton at the weekend. David Moyes’ side were, as ever, very organised and difficult to break down.

We kept at it and goals from Mario Balotelli and James Milner — both opening their accounts for the season — were enough to beat a side who always seem to get the better of us, especially at the Etihad Stadium. Hopefully the curse is broken.