Wednesday 8 March 2017 21:08, UK
Fernandinho has maintained his belief that Manchester City can catch Premier League leaders Chelsea in an interview with Sky Sports' Patrick Davison...
The fat lady is clearing her throat, the league leaders are halfway down the home straight with their nearest rivals yet to round the final bend, the relentless points-gathering machine from west London are showing no sign whatsoever of grinding to a halt.
However you want to put it, most people think the title race is done. Pep Guardiola is, or is close to being, one of them, this week describing Chelsea as 'almost unstoppable'.
But Fernandinho has a different view. Such a strong view that, to be honest, it caught me off guard.
'What now would be a good season?', was the fairly generic question that started it.
He gestured in such a way as to suggest that only overhauling Chelsea would do, before making it plain that the title was still his target. Anything else would 'be a bad season'.
"It's just my personal opinion," says the Brazilian midfielder (usually), who has won the Premier League once already, in his first season with City in 2014.
"When you have this desire to win, to win, to win, I would not feel comfortable losing a title."
Even when I asked him if second place followed by lifting the Champions League and the FA Cup would count as a good season he would only commit to a 'maybe'.
When you've won as much as he has - four titles in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk before his success with City - nothing else will do.
Not only does he think City must win the title, he thinks they will.
"We have to believe, I still believe. We all know the Premier League is so tough and many, many things can happen - right until the last game of the season."
If they are to pull off one of the greatest turnarounds in the league's history though, he concedes now is the key moment in their season.
"Definitely, we have Stoke and it's always difficult to play against them. After that we have Liverpool and then Arsenal and Chelsea.
"So I think this month is going to decide if we are going to be up there new the top of the table or not."
If they have closed the gap by the end of that sequence, a few more might be coming round to Fernandinho's way of thinking. A few more might start thinking the title race is very much alive.
