Man City mentality U-turn might be a risk worth taking for Champions League final

"We are not beating around the bush," said Kyle Walker this week. "We know this is now a great opportunity, we have a second chance definitely with Pep and the group of players who have stayed around and we need to put right the wrongs we did against Chelsea."

Two years ago, Manchester City were confident ahead of their first Champions League final appearance, but there was still a lingering feeling in the back of fans' minds. Maybe also in the players' thoughts. It might not have been imposter syndrome, but it was certainly a feeling that the Champions League was maybe a bigger task than the Blues had dreamed of.

Pep Guardiola made changes to his starting XI vs Chelsea - something he hinted was a mistake this week - some players didn't rise to the occasion, and City returned from Porto with a silver medal. Fast forward two years and the dream of winning the Champions League has become an expectation.

For a side who have won most of their games and titles under Guardiola by not thinking about the bigger picture, there has been a mentality U-turn inside the City Football Academy of late that could be seen as a huge risk.

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Guardiola has steadily changed his tune in recent months when talking about the Champions League. Initially, the achievement was reaching the latter stages consistently, now he openly accepts that this squad at this club has to win the European Cup to be recognised internationally for the world-class team they are.

That view has been echoed by key players like Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Walker. "We don't win five Premier Leagues in six years if we are not a good team," said the England right-back. "We kind of