The Champions League is Man City's to lose! Pep Guardiola's side have all the resources to retain Europe's holy grail while other contenders look vulnerable

Guardiola insisted last week that his side have a '99.99 percent' chance of not repeating last year's historic treble, but he was fooling no one. City are in ominous form in all competitions, winning a 10th consecutive game by sinking Everton 2-0 on Saturday.

They are the favourites to win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Indeed, gamblers can get a better price on Paris Saint-Germain winning the Champions League than on City doing another clean sweep of the major honours.

Of course, there are more than three months to go and football has a remarkable capacity for the unexpected to unfold. But City are approaching the business end of the season with their usual sense of hunger and assuredness. And while Guardiola might not want to entertain treble talk at the moment, he cannot say the same of some of his players.

"Yes, obviously I think we can," Alvarez told GOAL last month when asked if winning three trophies was again achievable. "In the final few months of the season, we’re fighting for all the competitions, we’re good as a group and I think we can do it... It’s not just him (Guardiola) and his demands, it’s a bit of us too. We’re very competitive and we always want to go for more and that’s what we’re doing this season, trying to do it again."

City have had their setbacks this season, not least in Kevin De Bruyne tearing his hamstring and missing five months. They have also lost John Stones for large chunks of the campaign and then had to make do without Erling Haaland for two months.

The trio are, however, all fit and firing again: Haaland is back in devastating form after his lethal strikes against Everton while De Bruyne has five assists and a goal in his six appearances since returning to action, despite only starting twice.

They have also missed the box-to-box presence of Ilkay Gundogan and the reliable squad players like Riyad Mahrez. But as ever, Guardiola has found solutions, reinventing Phil Foden as a central midfielder, successfully integrating new arrivals Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic, while getting even more out of Alvarez.

Kyle Walker has fought his way back from the fringes of the team to become the captain while Rodri is indisputably the finest holding midfielder in the the world. Indeed, a year has passed since the last time City lost a match while their Spanish midfield lynchpin was playing.

City spend a lot of the season preparing for the final three months of the campaign, when the biggest prizes are on the line and the schedule is at its most unforgiving. Guardiola has made a habit of rotating his squad throughout the season - with a couple of exceptions like Rodri and Walker - to ensure his players still feel fresh when the key games arrive.

And while he never envisaged having the likes of De Bruyne and Haaland out for so long, their injury-enforced absences mean they have at least had time to recharge their batteries, both physically and mentally.

Even though City face formidable title rivals in Arsenal and Liverpool, there is a sense that they will be too strong when push comes to shove and that they eventually home in on a historic fourth English league crown. However, a glance at goings on across the continent suggests they will face even fewer obstacles in their bid to retain the Champions League.

Real Madrid are the second-favourites to win Europe's top prize behind City, and there is clearly something special being built by Carlo Ancelotti this season, in no small part helped by the brilliance of Jude Bellingham, who has scored 20 goals across La Liga and the Champions League already.

Madrid, who look primed to win the Spanish title after slaying closest challengers Girona 4-0, will surely get past RB Leipzig in the last 16 - even with Bellingham set to miss the first leg due to injury - and will undoubtedly be a daunting opponent for City should their paths cross for a third consecutive season. Their 14 European Cups alone is enough to intimidate anyone.

Ancelotti's side, however, have been beset by dreadful injury problems, leading the Italian coach to line up with an unrecognisable back four against Girona, playing winger Lucas Vazquez at right-back, full-back Dani Carvajal at centre-half alongside usual midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.

Eder Militao should be back from his serious knee injury by mid-March and relieve some of those problems, but David Alaba is out for the rest of the season. Thibaut Courtois, such a key part of Real's last Champions League triumph in 2022, has missed the whole season with torn knee ligaments and is not due back until May.

Madrid have coped admirably with such big losses, but if up against a full-strength City side, it is easy to envisage Guardiola's side prevailing again, having hammered Los Blancos 5-1 on aggregate in last season's semi-finals.

Third-favourites are Bayern, who also have an outstanding European history but are being outshone in the Bundesliga by Xabi Alonso's dynamic Bayer Leverkusen, who played them off the park in a stunning 3-0 win in Saturday's top-of-the-table clash.

Support for Thomas Tuchel, who never convinced large swathes of the Bayern fanbase in the first place after the reckless decision to sack Julian Nagelsmann last year, is at an all-time low. And questions are even being asked of top scorer Harry Kane, with some believing that the England captain's thirst for goal records has come at the expense of the team's balance.

Although Bayern comfortably beat City's neighbours Manchester United home and away in the group stage, it seems likely that Guardiola's side would blow them away if they were to meet again in the latter rounds, having beaten them 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium last year.

Beyond Madrid and Bayern, City's biggest threat could actually come from closer to home. Arsenal are favourites to beat Porto and reach the quarter-finals, and have finally banished their dreadful run of results against City by beating the champions 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium in October.

Playing Mikel Arteta's side in two-legged tie would certainly push City to the limits, but if they are at full-strength (Rodri was suspended and De Bruyne was injured last time) then they would be expected to make it through.

Guardiola's side would also expect a big test from Inter, who would be out for revenge after losing last season's final and who have a knockout specialist coach in Simone Inzaghi. However, the difference in quality between the two squads is plain to see, and it is difficult to imagine City losing to the Italians, especially over two legs.

Fellow Serie A sides Napoli and Lazio would likely be no match for City as they sit ninth and eighth, respectively, in the Italian standings. The same is true of Barcelona, who have had a horrific start to 2024 and could be close to sacking Xavi as coach even though he has already committed to leaving at the end of the season.

Paris Saint-Germain, who have grown accustomed to an annual embarrassing last-16 exit, would also pose no significant danger to City, not withstanding the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe.

City are by no means guaranteed to win the Champions League again. Their previous record in the competition up to winning it is a testament to the pitfalls of knockout football and the fact that the best team does not always triumph. Indeed, it could be argued they should have conquered the Champions League far sooner than in Guardiola's seventh season.

But now they have broken the psychological barrier of winning it, there seems to be little standing in their way of creating a dynasty. Guardiola has won the Champions League three times and is just one more title away from matching Ancelotti as the most successful coach in the competition. That has got to be an extra motivating factor for him.

There is also the fact that this year's final is at Wembley, which holds a very special place in the coach's heart. Guardiola lifted Barcelona's first European Cup as a player under the twin towers at the old stadium in 1992 and also lifted the Champions League at the renovated ground in 2011 after the Catalans destroyed Manchester United. Save for perhaps Camp Nou, there could be no more fitting venue than Wembley for Guardiola to make Champions League history.

Guardiola does not find it hard to find reasons to motivate his players and they usually respond. Last week, he spoke of how excited they were to beat Luton Town in December just days after losing at Aston Villa, and revealed that the team were extra-determined to beat Brentford last week after the Bees did the double over them last season.

"What I like is the satisfaction is the celebration in Luton Town when we were in trouble, or beating Brentford when we couldn't last season," Guardiola said. "The players know how difficult it is and how difficult it will be. What I like is that we are still there. This is what I like, and hopefully we arrive in March and April with the same feeling to fight for the titles in May. This is the target."

If City were that motivated to beat Brentford, imagine how focused they will be when they reach the latter stages of the biggest competition of them all, which they have finally got their hands on and are in no hurry to relinquish.