Why winning two domestic cups shouldn’t be Guardiola’s final act at City

Manchester City are preparing for a blockbuster FA Cup final showdown against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Cityzens are potentially 90 minutes away from becoming FA Cup winners for the eighth time and a first since 2022/23 when they defeated fierce rivals Manchester United 2-1.

Fortunately, they’re up against a Chelsea side in turmoil, after a once-promising campaign was significantly derailed by poor decisions at the board level.

While the Blues are hoping to end a horrendous season with silverware, City are heading into their fourth consecutive FA Cup final.

City manager Pep Guardiola will be particularly keen to sign off with a bang, with speculation about his potential departure at the end of the season gathering pace.

Over the past decade at City, Guardiola has completed football, winning every major silverware on offer.

City have already lifted silverware this season after beating Arsenal 2-0 to win the League Cup at Wembley, so they’ll fancy their chances of making it a domestic double this weekend.

However, City are still in the hunt for the Premier League title, although their chances of beating Arsenal to the punch take a hit every passing matchday.

If they fail to win the title, then leaving this summer wouldn’t feel right for Guardiola, even if they win the FA Cup.

Man City’s run to the FA Cup final

City will head into the Wembley showpiece looking for redemption after suffering a shock 1-0 defeat in the final against Crystal Palace last season.

That defeat made it back-to-back Wembley losses for Guardiola’s side since lifting the trophy in 2022/23.

Guardiola will be determined to avoid a third consecutive FA Cup final defeat this season, and City’s run to the showpiece has been nothing short of remarkable.

The Cityzens kicked off their FA Cup campaign with an extraordinary 10-1 victory over lower league Exeter City at the Etihad Stadium.

City unleashed further carnage on lower-division teams in the latter rounds.

They ripped apart Salford City and Southampton on either side of two all-Premier League victories against Newcastle United and Liverpool.

Guardiola’s side scored an astonishing 21 goals and conceded just three times en route to the final.

If that’s not enough to strike fear in the hearts of Saturday’s opponents, then their head-to-head records should give Chelsea plenty to think about.

City haven’t lost to Chelsea since the 2021 Champions League final in Porto, with Guardiola’s side enjoying a staggering 13-game unbeaten streak against them (W10, D3).

They have already beaten the Blues in the FA Cup at Wembley, with Bernardo Silva’s 84th-minute strike enough to hand City a 1-0 win in the 2024 semi-final.

Why winning two domestic cups shouldn’t be Guardiola’s final act

Guardiola has nothing left to prove at City, but there’s a decent chance that his obsession with winning could keep him at the Etihad for another year.

The Spaniard has one year left on his contract, but there has always been a feeling that he could leave the club at the end of the season.

However, that could change if City fail to win the Premier League title. At the moment, City are two points behind Arsenal with two games remaining.

They still have a fighting chance, but the fate of the coveted crown isn’t in their hands. 

They need Arsenal to give them an opening in their final two games against already-relegated Burnley and a Crystal Palace side thinking about the Europa Conference League final.

It’ll take the mother of all capitulations for Arsenal to lose it from here, which means City may well finish runners-up for the first time since the 2019/20 campaign.

If that happens, Guardiola could have an incentive to see out the final year of his contract. 

He has left each of his previous clubs as a league winner and will feel obliged to continue that trend at City, even if he wins a second domestic trophy this weekend.

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