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• No complacency as Man City prepare for Champions League final – Kevin De Bruyne

  Kevin De Bruyne insisted there would be no complacency as Manchester City prepare for Saturday’s Champions League final against Inter Milan.

  City are the overwhelming favourites as they look to win the competition for the first time – and complete the treble – in Istanbul.

  Inter finished 18 points behind champions Napoli in Serie A this season but De Bruyne is wary of the threat of Simone Inzaghi’s side.

  The Belgium playmaker said: “You don’t get to the final of the Champions League without being top.

  “I think they won the (cup) double in Italy. They’ve been winning basically every game at the end of the season.

  “They have their system, they have their style, they do what they do really, really well and I don’t feel that anybody is going to think that it’s going to be an easy game against Inter. It’s a final so it starts 50-50.”

  City have long coveted Champions League glory but endured a number of near misses in recent seasons, the closest being their runners-up finish to Chelsea in 2021.

  Their frustrations contrast with their domestic success after, most notably, five Premier League title wins in the past six seasons.

  Manager Pep Guardiola has acknowledged that City will need to transfer their home successes onto the European stage to be truly regarded among the great teams.

  De Bruyne said: “I’ve been here eight years and it’s been incredible. Could I have come here and thought about the amount of games and trophies we would win in eight years? Probably not.

  “In the end we have had a pretty impressive career at City, but it is something we have not won yet and it is something that we want to win. Hopefully it will be Saturday.

  “We know how big the moment is but I feel the more relaxed you are as a team, and the team is doing pretty well with that at the moment, you get a better chance.”

  De Bruyne has painful memories, literally, of that final loss to Chelsea two years ago after suffering a serious facial injury following a collision in the second half.

  He said: “I don’t look at what happened two years ago with bad feelings. You go on, you move on. Ultimately, that’s football.

  “Saturday is a great opportunity. It’s been an incredible year already. We can make it even better, but no matter what, it’s been great.”

• John Stones relishing key role as Manchester City chase treble glory

  Manchester City defender John Stones could cap a remarkable turnaround from a virtual outcast to being at the cutting edge of Pep Guardiola’s masterplan with a Champions League victory.

  Three years ago the 29-year-old’s future was uncertain. He had made just 24 appearances in the 2019-20 season and the club had spent over £100million on centre-backs Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias.

  That summer Guardiola admitted there was a distinct possibility a player lacking confidence could leave and he did not play a minute in seven of the eight opening league games of the next season.

  But over the course of three seasons he has turned things around so much he is now seen as an integral part of his manager’s latest tactical tweak, with the current fashion for a defender to play as a midfielder when the side is in possession.

  “It was probably one of the hardest times in my career,” said Stones of that period in 2020.

  “I literally went back to firstly looking at myself, being super-critical of myself and what I could do better on the football pitch, and then looking into every fine detail, down to what food, what training, what extras.

  “That’s come down to doing stuff here and then going home and doing work, even late at night, or straight after the training, finding these small margins, putting them all together to kind of break where I was at after coming back to playing.

  “Yeah, (it was a) big learning curve for me and maybe who I am today.”

  In that time period a number of players have left, with Guardiola’s propensity for dispensing with full-backs a little too close for comfort at times for Stones.

  But the former Everton defender never considered seeking opportunities elsewhere.

  “I never thought about that. I think as soon as you accept that or have that mindset then you have killed yourself,” he added.

  “I always wanted to stay, I have stayed and I absolutely love it. I wanted to prove to myself. I didn’t say to anyone ‘It was because I want to prove to you’.

  “I think, if anything, you have to prove to yourself first and foremost that you deserve to be here, you are good enough to be here, and what you bring to the team.”

  The goals of Erling Haaland have helped propel City to a second Champions League final in three years where they start as strong favourites against Inter Milan in Istanbul.

  But Stones’ role and that, to a lesser extent, of Rico Lewis in stepping forward has added another dimension to an already multi-layered team.

  “People have always said from a young age that they can see me playing in there. I still do love playing as a centre-half and I’ve absolutely loved this role as well,” said the Barnsley-born defender.

  “I think I have showed myself that I’m able to do it, maybe showing some attributes that I didn’t know that I had.

  “But the manager has seen (something) in me and ultimately I think I’m just trying to show what I can do in there and be able to help the team ultimately win with my attributes.”

  City may be the favourites but Stones insists they will not be under-estimating Inter, a team who finished in third 18 points behind Serie A champions Napoli.

  “They’re in the Champions League final for a reason,” he added.

  “No matter who we’re playing, no matter what league they’re in, we give the team the respect that they deserve because even the FA Cup, let’s make an example of that, there’s giant-killers, smaller teams in League One and League Two that beat Premier League winners.

  “That’s where the respect (comes from) that every team deserves.

  “They’ve got incredible players. How they played in a big occasion, in a derby game in the Champions League semi-final (against AC Milan) is never easy.

  “We know what we’re up against, they are an incredible team.”

• Liverpool buy back their former Melwood training ground for women’s team to use

  Liverpool have bought back their former Melwood training ground for their women’s team to use.

  The men’s first team vacated the site in West Derby in the city in November 2020 for a new build at their existing academy base in Kirkby.

  Amid local protests, proposals were in place for the land to be turned into a modern, multi-generational housing complex by affordable housing group Torus but after the Robbie Fowler-Jamie Carragher academy moved in plans started to change, which has ultimately resulted in the club re-purchasing their former home.

  As part of the move, the crest of the LFC Women’s team, which has previously trained at Tranmere’s base on the Wirral, will move to the official club crest to closer align the two operations.

  “This is a truly historic moment for Liverpool Football Club and the continued desire of the LFC Women’s board to elevate and develop our women’s first team and category one professional game academy,” said Liverpool’s managing director Andy Hughes.

  “We also have an opportunity to further develop the use of the site to support the local community by using it as an additional base for LFC Foundation.

  “We are delighted that FEFA (Fowler Education and Football Academy) will continue to use the site for its college that provides sport and educational opportunities for young people.

  “We have always taken the views of the local community seriously and we look forward to re-engaging with them in the near future.”

  Torus will use the funds from the sale of Melwood to build much-needed homes across Merseyside.

  Developments also continue apace at Anfield where the 282-tonne roof of the old Anfield Road stand has been removed to make way for the completion of the new stand which is due to open for the start of next season and expand the ground’s capacity to 61,000.