MY ACCOUNT
Ederson is full of confidence that Manchester City can go on to win a domestic and European treble this season.
City missed out on their usual EFL Cup triumph this term, a trophy they had lifted four times in a row under Pep Guardiola.
However, they are six points clear at the top of the Premier League, albeit having played a game more than title rivals Liverpool, while they are into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Southampton stand in the way of a semi-final trip to Wembley in that competition, while City also have one foot into the last eight of the Champions League.
Last year’s runners-up thrashed Sporting CP 5-0 in the last-16 first leg last month, meaning the return fixture in Manchester on Wednesday should prove a formality.
“Definitely,” Ederson told a news conference when asked if City had eyes on a treble, which would be the second of Guardiola’s tenure after an EFL Cup, FA Cup and Premier League triumph in 2018-19.
“We know how difficult it is. A season here in England is very intense, especially around the Boxing Day period when there are a lot of games in a short space of time. That is very demanding on the entire group.
“We know how difficult it is, but we have the quality to do this. We’ve shown this previously and we’re showing it at the moment. I think we’re fully capable of meeting this achievement.”
City are yet to win the Champions League, with last season’s final defeat to Chelsea in Porto the closest the club has come.
“Last season we had the opportunity but lost in the final,” Ederson said.
“Our goal is to go into every tournament to win. We have to take things step by step to progress. We know there are challenges in every competition. Every game has its own challenges and [you] have to take things step by step to achieve great things in the future.”
City’s victory in Lisbon represented the joint-biggest winning margin away from home in the knockout stages in Champions League history. The largest first-leg deficit to be overturned in the competition is four goals, Barcelona having famously thrashed Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 in March 2017 after losing the away leg 4-0.
City have won each of their past six home matches in the knockout stages of the Champions League and could tie a record that has been reached on five occasions previously, while Sporting have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their most recent 13 away matches in the tournament, conceding 31 goals in the process (2.4 per game).
