Can Manchester City really win a quadruple?

Pep Guardiola’s side are still fighting for four trophies with the dressing room in no doubt that they can go on and do what no team has done before

Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Can Manchester City win a quadruple? Oleksandr Zinchenko certainly thinks so.

"Of course, everything is possible," he said speaking ahead of City's Champions League last-16 second leg with Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday.

City lead 2-0 on aggregate after a dominant first-leg performance three weeks ago and, as a result, are heavy favourites to progress and qualify for the last eight.

"We have an unbelievable squad, the best players in the world. Definitely, why not? Inside the dressing room or inside the team I can see hungry eyes. Everyone is so hungry for the titles. That's what we want."

His manager, however, is less convinced.

"I am older than Mr Zinchenko. I have more experience and I am not agreeing with him," Pep Guardiola responded to his left-back's confidence.

"Zinchenko only has to be worried about a good game tomorrow and going through. This is the only way. Four titles has never happened before and I think it is not going to happen."

Guardiola is right to be skeptical. No English team has ever collected all four major trophies with the great Manchester United side of 1999 coming the closest, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and, of course, the Champions League in such dramatic fashion at the Nou Camp.

City have the chance to go one better this season and as we approach the final furlong of a campaign like no other before it, the runaway league leaders still find themselves fighting on four fronts.

The Premier League title appears to be a near-certainty - a run of 18 wins out of the last 19 matches have Guardiola's side 14 points clear of rivals United with just eight games to go.

A third title in the last four years would be a lauded achievement, especially after the manner Liverpool wrested it from them a season ago. A return to the summit of the English game will be a testament to Guardiola's methods and his expertly assembled team's unerring application of them.

"When City have the ball, it's incredibly hard for any opponent," opposite number Marco Rose said ahead of Tuesday's game.

"Their pressing after losing possession is world class and they move the ball forward very quickly. Pep has them playing almost total football.

"He is a fantastic character. He has had a massive influence on world football over the past years. He's passionate about things beyond football too and is an incredible human being."

An FA Cup quarter-final with Everton comes on Saturday before a Carabao Cup final against Tottenham awaits in April.

In current form you wouldn't back against City going all the way in both, but it is the Champions League - as it so often has - where this season's success will be truly measured.

Guardiola hasn't got his hands on the famous old trophy since 2011. City never have. It is the sole honour that has eluded them since the 2008 Abu Dhabi takeover and the one, above all others, Guardiola was hired to win.

A mini-wobble in recent weeks - if you can call one defeat in four a mini-wobble - has City's ability to deliver on football's biggest stage again called into question.

As is the way, the only outcome to silence those critics would be by doing what they haven't yet done and going all the way and lifting the trophy in Istanbul.

“It’s not pressure,” Guardiola added. “They have to handle the pressure, to play in this team, at this club, in this organisation, they have to know it’s not nice to lose a game. We have to win and win, that’s for sure. But it’s out of the reality and focus.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen at the end of the season. Normally, it’s not going to happen. It never happened before.

“What we have to do, like we have done since day one, is think about the game we are going to play tomorrow against Borussia Monchengladbach. That’s the only thing I’m concerned about.”

Rose for his part isn't expecting his side to stop them.

"I don't believe in miracles," he added. "It would have to be something extraordinary, or more than that. Something close to a sensation."

A quadruple for City really would be sensational, but with every win it gets that little bit closer. As Zinchenho rightly said, everything is possible.