Aymeric Laporte is relishing Manchester City's Treble tilt

With two games against Liverpool and two games against Atletico Madrid in the space of 12 days Aymeric Laporte knows Manchester City's season will be on the line after the international break, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

'It's a nice challenge, but more than that, it's an opportunity,' he says at Spain's training camp just outside Madrid. 'We look at it as the chance to show that we are better than these other teams.'

There is no false modesty to Laporte. When he is asked if there is anything Liverpool have that he wished City possessed, or vice-versa, he begins: 'I think the football that we play, no-one else plays it in the world. We make mistakes too, like everyone. I think they would like even a part of our game.'

The title race has tightened considerably over the last few weeks and now the league game against Liverpool, comes between two meetings with Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid, and before the FA Cup semi-final, again against Liverpool.

The 27-year-old centre-back dubbed the 'boss of Spain's defence' this week by Spanish media, is also a staunch defender of the philosophy Pep Guardiola has installed at City, one he is says will not waver during this crucial run.

'We have a phrase in Spain for it: un par de huevos (a pair of balls),' he says. 'We have that about us, to not be afraid of making a mistake.

'You expose yourself but that's what the coach asks of us and it hasn't exactly gone badly for us, has it?

The risk-taking that he talks about can fall disproportionately on the defenders.

His errors led to a Crystal Palace goal and then his own red card in a defeat last October but that was a blip in a campaign where he has already made 10 more league starts than last season.

In a 1-0 win away at