Kevin de Bruyne has admitted that Manchester City cannot stack up to Liverpool.
Just three points currently separate Pep Guardiola’s side and the Reds in this season’s Premier League table but the gulf is considerably larger elsewhere.
City will take on Monaco in their Champions League last 16 tie tonight but De Bruyne concedes that they are still some way from emulating Liverpool.
The Anfield club continue to enjoy a long-standing pedigree in the competition, having won it five times with an involvement which stretches over 50 years.
And the winger acknowledges that City have some significant catching up to both his boyhood club and rivals Manchester United in their European experience.
“People talk about teams like Man United and Liverpool, with the history they have,” said De Bruyne.
“Obviously they are great teams and you cannot compare us to them because we didn’t have the time that they’ve had already for doing what they did in the Champions League.
“They’ve been there for multiple years and we’ve only been there for five or six years.
“We need the same amount of time to compare to them in the Champions League.
“For me (history means) nothing, but for a lot of people in the world it means everything.
“That’s why people are talking about Man City a little bit less than they do the other teams.
“Everybody in England will be very proud about the English teams achieving a lot in Europe, but we also want the chance to try that.
“If we do it for another 50 years and then we have a couple of Champions Leagues, people will maybe also look differently at us.”
De Bruyne’s comments echo those of Guardiola, who accepted in December that City cannot measure their success against Liverpool’s current league title haul.