Manuel Akanji has warned Manchester City will come unstuck if they think they are already through to the Champions League semi-finals.
Pep Guardiola's side go into tomorrow's quarter-final return leg at Bayern Munich holding a 3-0 lead from the first game at the Etihad Stadium last week. Although City are in pole position to advance, with such a healthy advantage, defender Akanji said they must put their first-leg lead out of their minds and try to win at the Allianz Arena.
City must go through to stay on course for the Treble haul of the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, with Manchester United the only to achieve the feat back in 1999. But first, Guardiola's men - who are on a 10-game winning run - have to get past German champions Bayern, with Akanji claiming the tie if far from over, despite City's dominant position at the halfway stage.
“Bayern will try to do everything they can to turn this around but we have to be ready for it,” said Akanji. We can’t go into the game thinking we have a 3-0 lead in the back of our head.
“We have to try to do our best, because they will come for us, for sure.
“They had chances in the first leg, but we defended well as a team and did well, and we need to do this on Wednesday. The goal is to go there and win.”
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Akanji knows what awaits City in Munich tomorrow, having played at Bayern for former club Borussia Dortmund.
But he does not think the atmosphere at the Allianz is not among the best in Germany and will therefore not have an effect on City's players.
“It's probably going to be good,” said Akanji. “But I don’t think it’s one of the best atmospheres in Germany. I think there are others that are better, but they will still try to help their team and we will see how it is.
“We can never let down in any game. We know we need to win every game to win all the competitions and that’s our aim.
“Obviously we try to take our chances and the opportunities we have and try to keep a clean sheet. It’s not always possible to do that but we are trying.”
