Rico Lewis says winning the treble once “isn’t good enough” as Manchester City look to repeat the feat and eye an unprecedented quadruple.
Pep Guardiola’s perennial Premier League champions added the FA Cup in June before beating Inter Milan to win the club’s first ever Champions League crown.
City joined Manchester United’s 1999 side as the only English teams in history to complete the treble, but there appears little chance of them stopping there.
Erling Haaland’s brace saw them open up their league campaign with a 3-0 win at promoted Burnley on Friday, after which teenage star Lewis outlined his ambitions.
“The objective is to win the treble again, to win the quadruple,” the homegrown 18-year-old talent said.
“You know, winning it once isn’t good enough, so we have to keep on going and try and win it again.”
You would not back against City winning the European crown on top of claiming the three main domestic trophies given their quality, cohesion and strength.
However, Guardiola’s men have already missed out on one piece of silverware this season having lost the Community Shield to Arsenal on penalties.
This week, though, offers another chance at a trophy as City seek to win the UEFA Super Cup for the first time against Sevilla in Athens.
“Obviously it’s a new competition for us,” Lewis said. “We’ve never won it, the club’s never won it, so, again, it’s another trophy that we want to go and win.
“It’s another competition and an important thing we need to go and take on.”
City make the trip buoyed by a solid start to the Premier League season, with Rodri adding to Haaland’s double on a night that also saw Lewis struck by an object.
Burnley quickly confirmed the individual responsible for the first-half incident had been identified, removed from the ground by police and now faces a banning order.
“Obviously when you’re in the game you can’t really focus on that,” Lewis said. “But it was just something I had to deal with at the time.
“It’s just an incident that’s unfortunate it’s happened to me but, you know, it happens to a lot of players, which is not a good thing.
“But there’s nothing really much you can do about it. You’ve just got to ignore it and then it’ll get sorted at the end of the game.”
Another issue City’s players could not let distract them was the injury to skipper Kevin De Bruyne.
The 32-year-old has only recently returned from a hamstring issue and Guardiola says he faces weeks on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of the issue.
“Well, you know, injuries happen to everyone,” Lewis said. “Every team suffers with injuries and it’s something that you’ve just got to deal with.
“There’s enough quality in the squad where if someone gets injured someone can slot in and just carry on playing in the same way that the last person did.
“Obviously there’s going to be certain positions where we’ll be more hurt than others just because of squad depth, but it’s something that happens to everyone and everyone has to deal with it.”
While City return to action on Wednesday, the Clarets have an extended wait until they play again.
Next weekend’s trip to Luton was postponed due to ongoing stadium works at Kenilworth Road, meaning Vincent Kompany’s side are next in action at home to Aston Villa on August 27.
That fortnight will give promoted Burnley an invaluable opportunity to work with their new-look squad after showing signs of promise against City.
Summer signing Luca Koleosho, 18, said after making his debut: “I think we had our moments in the game but obviously we were playing against the best team in the world right now.
“So, I just think that every game we’re going to get better and just improve.
“The mentality is just to win, there’s 37 games (to go), it’s a long season but just take it one at a time and just go out there and try and win.”
Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Stuttgart: Last-gasp equaliser preserves champions' unbeaten run
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen scored a last-gasp equaliser through Robert Andrich to come from two goals down and rescue a 2-2 draw against Stuttgart on Saturday.
The late drama ensured the hosts extended their record unbeaten run to 46 matches across all competitions.
Leverkusen – who play Roma in the Europa League semi-finals, are also through to the DFB-Pokal final and have already secured their first-ever league title – have now scored 16 goals in stoppage time in all competitions this season.
After a low-key first half, Leverkusen were quickly 2-0 behind after the break with Chris Fuhrich drilling in on the rebound after keeper Lukas Hradecky had palmed a shot on to the post in the 47th minute.
Deniz Undav doubled the visitors' lead 10 minutes later before Leverkusen launched their comeback attempt with Amine Adli beating keeper Alexander Nubel with a low drive in the 61st.
Nubel made three sensational saves to protect Stuttgart's slim lead, but Andrich came to the rescue deep in stoppage time to extend their impressive undefeated run.
Stuttgart are third in the table on 64 points, five behind second-placed Bayern Munich. Leverkusen are top on 81 with three matches remaining.
Everton 1-0 Brentford: Toffees join Bees in ensuring Premier League status
Everton made mathematically certain of remaining in the Premier League on Saturday as Idrissa Gueye's goal handed them a 1-0 home win over Brentford, who are also safe after Luton Town's earlier loss to Wolves.
Luton's 2-1 defeat at Molineux meant Brentford's slim fears of relegation were behind them before kick-off, while Everton knew a third straight victory would also secure their place in the top flight for next season.
The Toffees' old wastefulness was on show in the first half, but Gueye powered home 15 minutes into the second period to hand them a third Goodison Park triumph in the space of six days.
The result saw Sean Dyche's men climb above their visitors to go 15th in the table, one place and point clear of Brentford, who can also plan ahead for 2024-25 in the top flight after pulling clear of danger.
Everton were without Dominic Calvert-Lewin through illness and Beto due to the head injury he suffered against Nottingham Forest. Their absences were felt when the first chance fell their way after six minutes, Youssef Chermiti failing to get a touch on McNeil's tempting cross.
Mathias Jensen had Brentford's first sight of goal 20 minutes in following good work from Vitaly Janelt, but in-form defender Jarrad Branthwaite denied him with a huge block.
The best opportunity of a low-key opening period, though, fell to Abdoulaye Doucoure, who sent an awkward volley spinning well wide after finding space on the stroke of half-time.
Brentford should have gone ahead within five minutes of the restart, but Jordan Pickford brilliantly smothered Ivan Toney's shot when his England team-mate looked destined to tap home at the far post.
McNeil then rattled the crossbar from range as Everton turned up the pressure, and they made the breakthrough on the hour.
Gueye fired into the top-left corner after Brentford failed to clear following a goalmouth scramble, with the goal confirmed by VAR amid questions about a subjective offside.
Keane Lewis-Potter worked Pickford from the edge of the box, but that was as close as Thomas Frank's men came to an equaliser, and Everton almost had a second when James Garner's free-kick struck the bar in stoppage time.
Everton rescue act complete
When Everton welcomed Burnley to Goodison Park on April 6th, they remained in severe danger of seeing a chastening campaign end in relegation.
However, a run of four wins in five games – the most memorable being Wednesday's 2-0 triumph over Merseyside rivals Liverpool – has dragged the Toffees clear and ensured there will be no repeat of last year, when they remained at the highest level by the skin of the teeth on a nervy final day.
Having earned their first win of the campaign against Brentford back in September, Everton have also done the double over the Bees for just the second time, previously beating them home and away in the second tier back in 1952-53.
Toney struggles continue
While Brentford had enjoyed a resurgence of their own prior to Saturday's game, beating Sheffield United 2-0 and Luton 5-1 in their last two matches, both of those victories came without injured striker Toney.
He returned to the Bees' lineup here but was uncharacteristically quiet, failing to beat Pickford when presented with the visitors' best chance shortly after half-time.
Toney has now failed to score in his last eight Premier League matches, his longest ever run without a goal in the competition. With Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke in fine form as Gareth Southgate prepares to name his England squad for Euro 2024, his barren spell has come at a poor time.
Juventus 0-0 Milan: Goalless draw ensures Rossoneri retain grip on second
Juventus and Milan played out a 0-0 draw at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Serie A on Saturday, with both sides still seeking to secure Champions League spots for next season.
Midfielder Filip Kostic and striker Arkadiusz Milik had great chances to give Juventus the lead in the second half but Milan goalkeeper Marco Sportiello showed off his skills to keep their attempts out.
The Rossoneri finished the game without a shot on target as the contest finished goalless, leaving the sides to share the spoils.
Milan remain second in the standings on 70 points while Juventus remain third on 65, after Inter sealed the title on Monday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
