WE’RE NOT BLUE BOTTLERS

De Bruyne admits City NEED to win the Champions League to silence the critics as eyebrows are raised after so many near-misses and painful disappointments

KEVIN DE BRUYNE has admitted Manchester City must win the Champions League to silence their critics once and for all.

Despite amassing five Premier League titles, six League Cups and two FA Cups over the past 11 years, City have yet to go all the way in the Champions League.

They came agonisingly close last season, losing 1-0 to Chelsea in the final, a painful experience for De Bruyne, who was forced off with a double facial fracture after a sickening clash with Antonio Rudiger.

Ahead of tonight’s semifinal second-leg at the Bernabeu – with City holding a 4-3 lead – De Bruyne conceded there will always be a question mark against Pep Guardiola’s side until they are able to conquer Europe.

But the Belgium star, 30, backs his side to deliver tonight and reach the final, and give them another chance of changing the perception of them on the continent.

“I think it would change the perspective from outside,” said De Bruyne. “As a player, you want to win trophies and we want to win this one. The fact we’ve been fighting for numerous years and getting to the latter stages means we’ve been doing really well.

“The quality is very high, so it’s very difficult to win it. But, in the end, if you look back at the way we’ve performed, we’ve done really well.

“We’ve not won it, but winning it would change that little narrative. We’ve not won it yet and that will probably be the only criticism we can get. We just need to try to get over the line and this is another step.”

Luka Modric maintains Real must show they are the best team in the world tonight, but De Bruyne (right) reckons City are worthy of that status if they play to their full potential.

He added: “If we play the way we played last week, we have the potential to be one of the best teams – but we have to do that.

“If we’re a bit below that, Madrid can win, because they’re also one of the best teams in the world and the quality they have is amazing.

“But I back my team to perform at the level that’s necessary to win the game.

Everybody wants to see the game and is anticipating a great match.

“We’ll try to get the best out of ourselves to do a good showing and hopefully progress to Paris.”

Another player key to City’s chances of making the final is Phil Foden, with De Bruyne paying tribute to the player dubbed the ‘Stockport Iniesta.’

Foden was outstanding in the first-leg and De Bruyne said the 21-year-old is now playing at such a high level he is capable of deciding big ties.

The England star celebrates his 22nd birthday on May 28 – the date of this year’s final in Paris.

And De Bruyne said: “He’s been amazing. I’ve seen him grow from a little boy who had massive potential.

“Whenever you come up to a first team you’re a little bit shy and it takes time and more playing time to get comfortable in that situation.

“But in the last two years he’s been in a very comfortable situation and you see the difference in the way he plays. He’s not a young talent anymore, he’s one of the guys.

“It’s a big step to make, but now everybody looks at him to make a difference because he can.

“He’s proved that many times and he probably will do much, much more for this club in the future. I’m hoping he does the same that he’s been doing.

“If you’re constantly playing very well, that’s all you can do. He doesn’t play with ups and downs, he just does what he needs to do for the team.”