Kyle Walker has revealed how himself and his Manchester City team-mates didn't put pressure on themselves going into the Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
City went into the second leg with a 2-1 aggregate lead after a fantastic display in Paris last week - and Walker helped his side finish the job in Manchester on Tuesday evening.
Riyad Mahrez scored either side of half-time to ensure City will go into their first-ever Champions League final later this month.
Having struggled in the knockout stages in the European competition in recent seasons, Walker explained how the team changed their ways slightly to ensure their progression this time.
Talking to BT Sport, the City and England right-back said: “I don’t think it’s over-anxious, I think it was putting the pressure on ourselves.
"Obviously we go back to Anfield and we threw it away in the first leg, we tried our best to bring it back but it wasn’t good enough.
"Then we went to Tottenham - alright, people miss penalties and it didn’t go our way but we probably lost it in the first leg, chasing it, coming back here, we conceded two quick goals and it’s game on.
"Last year, under different circumstances, it was just one leg and it was a proper cup game and to finally go over there and get the victory, a well earned victory and then beat them 2-0 here, it’s full credit to this squad.”
Walker was then asked about how solid City were defensively, especially in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium, with the back four making some crucial blocks throughout the tie.
“Obviously against top quality players like that, we knew we had to put in a good shift," the 30-year-old said.
"John (Stones), Ruben (Dias) and Oleks (Zinchenko) made some important blocks at crucial times.
"I thought we controlled the game well considering the amount of talent they’ve got up front.
“It’s a team game. We go and celebrate a goal and high five but for us as defenders, the main thing is keeping clean sheets.
"This season, we’ve done tremendously well in doing that and have really sharpened up in our defensive duty.
"Blocking a shot is just like scoring a goal for me."
City will play the winner out of Chelsea and Real Madrid, with the two other semi-finalists going head-to-head in tomorrow (Wednesday) night's second leg at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues hold a slight advantage thanks to the away goal they scored in Madrid last week, but the tie is all-square at 1-1 as it stands.
