The ultimate goal of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City is undoubtedly the Premier League summit, although the Spaniard believes that Chelsea are the rightful leaders at this stage.
Fighting for Champions League qualification, the ex-Barcelona boss maintains that his City side are on track and that he's on top of their development curve ahead of the run-in.
"We are in a process of improvement, I know now where we are - the good things and the things we must improve - but Wednesday will be a good test on a big stage," said Guardiola to reporters.
"There are a lot of things we can improve, in the boxes especially. "Chelsea will be a big game and especially a big game away, it is important to learn from these kinds of games for the future. Chelsea deserve to be where they are, they have won a lot of games and deserve their position.
"They play less games, they have more time to prepare. But Chelsea will be in Europe next year and they have the quality to compete."
Discussing the 3-1 scoreline that Chelsea nabbed at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the season, Guardiola is confident that his players will keep their heads at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
"Every game is completely different, what I would like from my team is to go out and play," he continued.
"What happened last time was many, many things.
"Our frustration on the pitch happened. Sergio [Aguero] and Fernandinho are nice guys.
"There are nine games left. We have to take as many points as possible and we will see."
The coach also stated that he hopes Gabriel Jesus will be back before the end of the campaign, but pushed back any transfer talk to meetings he'll have with the board once the campaign ends.
The coach also stated that he hopes Gabriel Jesus will be back before the end of the campaign, but pushed back any transfer talk to meetings he'll have with the board once the campaign ends.
