Manchester City made a significant step toward becoming just the second English team to accomplish the treble, and Manuel Akanji now has his sights set firmly on the feat.
On Wednesday, City ruthlessly defeated Real Madrid, the 14-time champion of Europe, 4-0 to advance to the Champions League final the following month.
A triumphant finish to the season is anticipated with the squad poised to win its fifth Premier League championship in as many seasons and having advanced to the FA Cup final.
They would be emulating rival Manchester United, who happened to be their FA Cup opponents at Wembley, in 1999 if they were to win all three trophies.
The Borussia Dortmund-transfered City defender Akanji remarked, "First and foremost, we have to win the Premier League. That is something we can do over the weekend, and I hope we will.Then there will be two finals, and we intend to take both.
"That would be incredible. Here, this is my first season. We have had a lot of confidence heading into the second half of the season because it is the best team I have ever played on.I believe we've done a great job, but we must continue till the very end.
City would clinch the Premier League with two games remaining if they defeated Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
In preparation for their last matches against United on June 3 and Inter Milan in Istanbul a week later, manager Pep Guardiola would then have the luxury of being able to rest or rotate players.
They have long odds to win all three after their amazing performance against Real, in which they destroyed the most successful club in European competition history to achieve a 5-1 aggregate win.
The third goal for City was scored by Switzerland defender Akanji, whose looping header was deflected in by Eder Militao. "It's a great feeling," Akanji remarked. "We were confident right away as we went onto the floor.
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