Ilkay Gündogan has admitted that not even winning the FA Cup will make up for Manchester City's disappointing season as Pep Guardiola's team prepare to take on Nottingham Forest for a place in the final.
City will aim to reach their third final in a row at Wembley on Sunday.
The FA Cup is their last chance of ending the season with some silverware, but after falling short in the Premier League and the Champions League, Gündogan accepts that lifting the trophy won't make the campaign a success.
"The past has shown that it's not the standard we set for ourselves," Gündogan told ESPN. "We know things were not good enough from our side throughout the season. We can't change that, we can only take it and be honest with ourselves. It's important to admit to yourself.
"There are two targets left for us. One is obviously to qualify for the Champions League next year, which is vital for the club and also for us players as well.
"The other one is to try to get to the FA Cup final. We're going back to Wembley for the semifinal and it's always special.
It's going to be tough but it's going to be the only chance, with the Club World Cup, for silverware this season. We'll try to go for it."
City's season fell apart during a disastrous run of form in November and December.
Forest's visit to the Etihad on Dec. 4 was their only win in 13 games during a miserable period with Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Jérémy Doku scoring in a 3-0 victory.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side, who sit fourth in the Premier League table, got some revenge with a narrow 1-0 win in the return fixture in March.
Gündogan has said that the performance at the City Ground was not good enough and he's warned that City cannot afford a repeat at Wembley.
"The standard in the Premier League is so high," he said. "If you go through all the teams, there is no league in the world that has this kind of standard. Every game is so tough. The FA Cup is a reflection of that and that's why these teams are there. Every team is so uncomfortable to play against.
"When we lost at their place we were not up to our game and that's what I mean. It gets punished in the Premier League. Maybe in the past we could have been at 70, 80 or 90% and still win games but now it's so demanding. What they do, they do really well.
"They could be in the Champions League next season and they have a lot of quality. We know when we lost against them that it was just not good enough from our side. We have to do it better if we want to get into the final."
Reaching the FA Cup final would present City with the chance to give De Bruyne the perfect send-off after the club announced the Belgian will be leaving at the end of the season.
Gündogan says De Bruyne will go down as one of City's greatest ever players after 10 years and 14 major trophies and hinted that bosses might find it hard to find someone to fill the 33-year-old's boots when he moves on.
"He's irreplaceable," Gündogan said. "We know that no one will just come and be a replacement for him. Of course it will be covered somehow. The club always does that.
"What Kev has done for the club is unbelievable. For me personally, in the history of Man City, there is no better player than Kevin De Bruyne. It's been a pleasure for me to share a pitch with him for such a long time.
"I've had that connection with him off the pitch so it's been a privilege to get to know him and his family."