UEFA announced in June that the tournament would be completed in August, with games restarting two weeks after the end of the Premier League campaign.
It meant City could focus solely on Real Madrid in the build-up to our last 16 second leg victory and Walker has praised the rescheduling, which he feels marries well with players preferred ‘one game at a time’ philosophy.
“I think it’s better,” he said. “You can take one at a time.
“I think it’s brilliant because you can focus on one and then the other.
“The Champions League is the one we all want as a club because it is the one missing in the trophy cabinet.
“That is always going to be in the back of your mind. To be professional you have to take one game at a time.
“The Premier League and FA Cup were first and now we’ve moved onto the Champions League.”
Pep Guardiola’s side go into Saturday’s quarter-final against Olympique Lyonnais knowing we are just three wins away from lifting club football’s biggest prize.
Do so and Walker and his team-mates will etch their names into the City history books for eternity as the first group to be crowned champions of Europe.
However, there is additional motivation, with the 30-year-old right-back admitting the squad are determined to give the departing David Silva the send-off he deserves by winning the one trophy that has eluded him in his 10-years at the Etihad Stadium.
“He is one of the nicest, most humble people I’ve ever met in my life,” Walker explained.
“That is the least he deserves. He has won the World Cup, the Euros, the Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and he is missing the Champions League.
“We’ve said it already, we owe it to David. Vinnie [Kompany] even said it when he left, he wants us to win the Champions League.
“’Go and win it for me’, he said, but especially for David as well. Hopefully we can do that.
“We missed the Premier League, which would have been a nice send off for him, but hopefully we can repay him with the Champions League.”
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