City ‘can still do better than last season’

KEVIN De Bruyne believes opponents may have wised up to Manchester City a little but insists last season’s record-breaking campaign can still be eclipsed.

City won the Premier League by a record-breaking margin last term but are locked in a tighter tussle with Liverpool this time around.

De Bruyne feels it is only natural that rivals should find ways to close the gap but, with City still very much in contention for four trophies, the season could still end in spectacular fashion.

The Belgium playmaker said: “In the league we lost a few more games than we did last year but we are still fighting on all fronts.

“I think other teams figure out what we do, maybe, a little bit better. They maybe also have better squads. We just added one player, the rest is the same team.

“The way we play is always going to be the same with Pep, we’re not going to change. Everybody knows that.

“But in the end I don’t think there is a lot of difference. We’ve a lot of points in the league and I think the standard we are setting is still very high.

“Maybe it’s not the same as last year but maybe we’ll win more titles this year. The most important thing is titles. If we win three titles we will have done better than last year.”

De Bruyne (above) was speaking at a press conference in Germany as City prepare to resume their Champions League challenge with the first leg of their last-16 tie against Schalke.

The 27-year-old was unwilling to be drawn into talk of winning what would be an unprecedented quadruple, however.

He said: “I think the goal is not to win the four competitions. The goal is to win every game and then the further you progress.

“We are happy with where we are but we want to progress in every round we play in. That’s now the Champions League.

“We want to do well and go to the quarter-finals, so we are one step closer to winning it. To set standards to win all four – that’s nearly impossible.”