Manchester City need to win the Champions League to truly establish themselves as European powerhouses, defender Kyle Walker has said.
City have won four Premier League titles in the last decade but have failed to progress beyond the semi-finals of the Champions League during that period.
“I think if you had asked me two years ago when I signed here, I would have probably said that the Premier League was the big one for me having not won it before,” Walker told the club website on Thursday.
“Now I have collected two of them and a number of others and this is the one that I want. I can probably speak on behalf of the whole squad and Manchester City as well for what they need to put them onto that next pedestal.”
The 30-year-old England international has warned his side not to overlook Lyon, who are brimming with confidence having knocked out Serie A champions Juventus in the previous round.
“Lyon have got good players. Knocking out Juventus speaks volumes. You need to be a very good team, very disciplined to beat Juventus over two legs,” he added.
City are in Lisbon preparing for a quarter-final with Lyon, with Barcelona or Bayern Munich awaiting in the semi-final. Ederson, Claudio Bravo, Scott Carson and Gavin Bazunu in their 27-man squad for the mini-tournament in Portugal, and Walker admits he is not expecting to be called upon to deputise between the sticks again.
Walker famously enjoyed a ten-minute spell in goal for City in their group stage draw at the San Siro against Atalanta following Claudio Bravo’s red card. His clean sheet against the Italian side meant he was the only goalkeeper to stop Atalanta from scoring in their entire run to the quarter-finals, where they suffered a heart-breaking loss to PSG in injury time.
Reflecting on his time in goal, Walker said he would be the first to volunteer again if City were in a situation where an outfield player was needed to put on the gloves.
“I haven’t [brought his gloves], I have left them at home,” he joked.
