Pep Guardiola believes his Manchester City side must win the Champions League if they are to be "considered one of the best teams".
The Citizens lifted their third successive Premier League title and their fifth in the last six seasons after securing a 1-0 win over Chelsea in front of a party atmopshpere at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
A remarkable unbeaten run of 24 matches in all competitions has helped Guardiola's side take a significant step towards winning a historic treble, as they endeavour to become the first team since rivals Manchester United in 1998-99 to win the Premier League, Champions League an FA Cup in the same season.
Final showdowns with Inter Milan and Man United in the Champions League and FA Cup respectively are on the horizon for Man City, and Guardiola has highlighted the importance of success against the former if they wish to cement their status as one of the all-time greats.
Speaking to Sky Sports after lifting his fifth Premier League title, Guardiola said: "You have to win the Champions League to be considered one of the best teams like United or Liverpool.
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"But also it's unfair to say if you don't win it, the Premier League doesn't make sense. Of course it makes sense, of course it's important. It's every day, every week. This club has won five of the last six but six of the last 10 and seven of the last 12. It's amazing."
"But everybody knows if we want be considered one real team we have to win the Champions League. I'm sorry but I have to admit it."
Guardiola added: "When I came here people didn't say you have to win the Champions League, but I know it is not complete if we don't win the Champions League.
"Playing with this pressure is so nice. If we are not able to do it, sooner or later we will do it. We are there so we have to try."
Since his first season in management with Barcelona in 2008-09, Guardiola has won 11 top-flight titles, more than any other manager in that time and five more than his nearest challenger Massimiliano Allegri (six).
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The Catalan boss has acknowledged Man City's "exceptional" achievement and has expressed his desire for the Citizens to continue their dominance at the summit of the Premier League.
"When we start next season, we are going to try to be the first team to win four Premier Leagues," Guardiola told mancity.com.
"We don't need decades to think about how good it was. We have the feeling we have done something exceptional.
"The next season all the teams will want to beat us, it's normal. Defending our crown, mentally we have to prepare for that. That will be the challenge.
"We are going to play with the quality that we have – and human quality. The quality will be there."
After facing Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford in their final two Premier League matches, Man City will prepare for the FA Cup final at Wembley on June 3, before taking on Inter in the Champions League final in Istanbul on June 10.
Oliver Thomas
