Kevin De Bruyne admitted opposing teams are finding ways of counteracting Manchester City's command on games – but insisted they have found new formulas to win.
That perspective will have been music to the ears of his manager, Pep Guardiola, sat beside him in Essen's Philharmonic Hall on Tuesday night.
Guardiola – anxious of unrealistic expectations - shook his head in flabbergast when the word 'Quadruple' surfaced before Wednesday's Champions League first leg at Schalke.
Those emotions are prevalent after City were knocked out at this stage, the last 16, in his first 'failed' campaign before the quarter-final capitulation at Liverpool last year.