Al-ShahaniaSC of Qatar midfielder Nigel De Jong has disclosed that the ultimate goal for newly crowned Premier League champions Manchester City was winning the UEFA Champions League (UCL).

Nigel De Jong talked about former club Manchester City and the Champions League in an interview with Sky Sports. According to him, the ultimate goal of winning the Champions League started with the 2010/11 FA Cup title. Nigel De Jong was part of the Manchester City squad that won the FA Cup title that season to break the club’s long trophy drought in top flight football.

Manchester City saw off Stoke City in the 2011 FA Cup final to win the first title under the new ownership of the City Football Group. Nigel De Jong and Manchester City would go on to win the league title the following season.

The Premier League champions have been a regular in the Champions League for over a decade and didn’t secure a place in the final of the competition until last week when they defeated French giants Paris Saint Germain (PSG) over two legs. Manchester City came from a goal down to win the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie with PSG 2-1 through the second half strikes from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez. Brazilian international Marquinhos had given the hosts a first half lead.

Algerian international Mahrez then scored twice either side of the interval to lead Manchester City to a 2-0 win at home in their second leg clash and a 4-1 aggregate win.

Manchester City can reach their ultimate goal of winning the Champions League title by beating Chelsea in the final at the end of the month. The Blues have a recent good record against Manchester City with two wins from their last two encounters. City won their first meeting of the season but Frank Lampard was still in charge of the Chelsea team. New manager Thomas Tuchel masterminded the aforementioned two wins agaisnt City.