Mature City ready to roar at Lyon in bid for European glory

Pep Guardiola

Manchester City finally have a marquee victory in the knockout stages of the Champions League after seeing off Real Madrid to reach the Last 8, but they want much more in Lisbon over the next week with Pep Guardiola insisting they cannot be satisfied by beating the 13-time winners.

"We're here to try and win the Champions League," said Guardiola in a markedly different tone to the one he has struck in previous seasons when claiming City were not ready to be crowned champions of Europe despite dominating the Premier League.

"If we think that [beating Real] is enough, we will show how small we are. If you want to win you have to beat the big clubs." It took City eight seasons in the Champions League to beat a former winner over two legs, but disposing of Madrid both home and away, pre and post football's shutdown showed a maturity and ability to handle pressure situations that Guardiola's men have lacked in previous Champions League campaigns.

A clash with Lyon, who finished seventh in the curtailed 2019-20 Ligue 1 season, offers further reason for City to be optimistic. Deposed as champions of England by Liverpool, City have already begun strengthening for next season with the signings of Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake, but it is the next week in the Portuguese capital that could present the club's best ever chance of Champions League glory. One of Guardiola's former clubs, Barcelona or Bayern Munich, will lie in wait for the winner between City and Lyon, but they are the only two former winners left in the competition.

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