Man City for Champions League title? ´Only thing that can stop us are ourselves´ – Sterling

Manchester City star Raheem Sterling is confident of Champions League success, insisting “the only thing that can stop us are ourselves”.

Premier League champions City and rivals Chelsea will meet in an all-English final in Porto, Portugal on Saturday.

City will contest their first Champions League final, while it is 51 years since the club’s last major European decider, having won the 1970 Cup Winners’ Cup – breaking the record for the longest gap between finals for a team, eclipsing Sporting CP’s 41-year drought.

Pep Guardiola’s City have won 11 Champions League matches this season and victory over Chelsea would see them equal the all-time record of 12 by Real Madrid in 2001-02, although the Spanish giants played 17 matches that campaign, compared to City’s 13 this season.

“It is now about focusing on winning that trophy,” Sterling said. “The only thing that can stop us are ourselves, if I am honest.

“We have played them [Chelsea] twice [under head coach Thomas Tuchel] and lost twice, but this is a Champions League final.

“On the day, things are a lot different. You go into it with a clean mindset. Those games that happened against them in recent times go out the window.

“It is a game where I expect a difficult test, but at the same time I expect us to pull through.

“I expect a physically demanding game. Chelsea is a strong a team who have a lot of physically strong players.”