Manchester City "have to win the Champions League for it to be a successful season", says former England striker Ian Wright.

The defending champions are 22 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool with 13 games remaining.

Pep Guardiola's side face Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League, with the first leg on 26 February.

"You feel if they don't win the Champions League then it's not a good season," Wright told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"But if they do win it, it's a great season."

He added: "I would start saving players for it because that's what City have got to start focusing on."

Speaking on the Monday Night Club, Wright said Guardiola, who won two Champions League titles in charge of Barcelona, will be determined to win it again with City after not doing so at previous club Bayern Munich.

Guardiola has said he thinks he will be regarded as a failure at City if he does not win the Champions League, with the club having failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals so far under the Spaniard.

"With the team he assembled, we thought it would happen in his tenure," said Wright.

"He is three years in with a team that has played at a really high intensity and City have not been able to stay up with a Liverpool side that have kicked on."

SOURCE: BBC