Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has issued a statement of intent and a warning message, towards the #Citizen’s Champions League rivals this week.

The German midfielder claimed that his side are not fazed by being the joint favourites to take home the trophy, alongside Barcelona:

“A lot of people try to see us at the same level as them, but we still feel we have to compete with these teams, we are not there yet, but we are in a good way,” claimed Gundogan.

“If we have to meet them, we will be ready. We are still on a journey, we still feel like we are not where we want to be, but we are quite happy with how it's going at the moment, even though we still feel there's a lot more potential to achieve.”

“It's something that's not in our hands.

Everyone has their own opinion and the way we play, we always feel its quite impressive, but in the end, it's our style, its how we want to play.”

Manchester City are a force to be reckoned with this season

Gundogan was speaking ahead of City’s second leg tie against Basel, which takes place tomorrow evening a time the Etihad stadium.

Pep Guardiola’s side will be confident heading into that game, having already notched up a comfortable 4-0 lead after the first leg, thanks in part to two goals from Gundogan himself.

Basel would require at least four goals with no reply, to push Man City to extra time, if they stand any chance of progressing. As a result, Guardiola may even look to rest some of his players for the tie, with one eye on wrapping up the Premier League title.

The Sky Blues head to Stoke next Monday, which may be a tricky test given Stoke’s precarious position at the bottom of the league table and their fight for survival.

Nevertheless, Man City will go into the game heavy favourites having been incredibly dominant this season, both in the Premier League and Champions League.

Guardiola’s side currently sit 16 points clear ahead of their closest rivals, Manchester United, with the Spaniard’s fast flowing attractive football, having finally reaped the rewards this season, despite a difficult campaign previous.

Five English teams still battling for the Champions League trophy

Despite Manchester City being joint favourites for the biggest club football trophy in the world, another four English teams are still present in the round of 16.

Liverpool, the only team to beat City in the league this season, play tonight against Porto, having already secured a comfortable 5-0 lead after the first leg Andy may well end up being a threat to Guardiola’s side for the cup.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham, are also all still involved but only managed to pick up draws in their respective first legs, such that those ties are still all very much to play for.
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