Treble opportunity

Manchester United remain the only English club to have won the prized Treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup, but Manchester City are closing in on the same feat.

City stormed into the Champions League semi-finals for the third consecutive season with a 4-1 aggregate triumph over Bayern Munich.

Mighty Real Madrid, who eliminated Pep Guardiola's men in the last four last season, await in the semi-finals.

If City can slay the defending champions, they would be huge favorites to finally end their quest to conquer Europe, with either AC Milan or Inter Milan waiting in the final in Istanbul on June 10.

Domestically, City are chasing a fifth Premier League title in six seasons.

Arsenal hold a four-point lead at the top of the table but are showing signs of nerves after costly draws against Liverpool and West Ham. City have a game in hand and home advantage next week when the Gunners visit the Etihad for a potential title decider.

Before then, Guardiola's men make the trip to Wembley tomorrow for a clash against Sheffield United and what should be a routine passage to the FA Cup final.

Despite the arrival of Erling Haaland, who scored the 48th goal of his debut season in a 1-1 draw in Munich yesterday, there were plenty of doubts about City just a few months ago.

But following a defeat to Tottenham in February, they have gone on a 15-match unbeaten run. That has coincided with Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Ruben Dias being restored to Guardiola's most trusted starting lineup. City have since achieved defensive solidity without blunting the effectiveness of Haaland.

"We're very confident, in a very good moment, the best moment of the season for the team," said midfielder Bernardo Silva. "We feel we have a chance in every competition and we are going for them."

The odds on City matching Alex Ferguson's greatest achievement of his 26 years in charge of United have been slashed, with the club now the bookmakers' favorites for all three competitions they are in the hunt for. "We know how tough it is to get to this part of the season where if you drop your performance for one part of the game, you are out of one competition," said Silva. "It's going to be tough, but it's going to be fun."