City face the Danish side in the round-of-16 first leg on Tuesday night at 20:00 (UK), aiming to make it to the quarter-finals for the seventh successive season.
But the Dutch defender said our opponents showed their quality getting through a group that included Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Manchester United.
FC Copenhagen claimed a 0-0 draw at home against City in the group stage last season and Ake said the Parken Stadium atmosphere can be very special.
MATCH PREVIEW | CITY V FC COPENHAGEN
“I remember from last year when we played here, the atmosphere was good,” he said in his pre-match news conference.
“Sometimes it can be a bonus for the home team - they love playing here and have fans behind them.
“But the only thing we can do is focus on the occasion, we need to enjoy the occasion, it will be tough but it doesn’t change too much.”
Real Madrid’s three successive triumphs between 2016 and 2018, is the only time that the trophy has been defended in recent decades.
Ake believes the reason is that there are so many strong teams but says the hunger in the squad remains as big as ever.
“It’s probably one of the hardest competitions in the world,” he added. “So many top teams compete in it.
“Sometimes it’s difficult over two games, it can be hard. We have a game tomorrow, and we have to focus on that.
“Before last year we were close all the time. Last year we had a lot of hunger to win it and to get to the final because we lost one before.
“It doesn’t change anything. We have the same hunger. We have experience of winning it. Knowing how to win games that’s the only difference. But apart from that there’s no difference.”
Watch Nathan Ake‘s press conference in the video above...
