FA CUP SEMI-F

SATURDAY, 5.30PM, BBC ONE

WITH all due respect to the other semi-final, this is the one that feels as if it could have been the final itself.

Indeed, it could well end up being a dress rehearsal for the Champions League final with both sides having made it through to the last four this week.

In terms of trophies won, this is a meeting of the two superpowers of English football over the past decade.

City are the side perceived as having swept all before them – two seasons after becoming the first team to complete a domestic Treble they are still on course to complete an unprecedented quadruple.

It is a side Pep Guardiola has built on a huge team ethic. Raheem Sterling is the latest big name to find he is not indispensable having only been used as a late substitute in the midweek comeback win over Borussia Dortmund.

That is not to say City don’t have superstars – Phil Foden is one before he has even reached the age of 21 – but perhaps the biggest is a man Chelsea allowed to leave after playing just three times.

It is so clear Kevin De

Bruyne did not need an agent, just data analysis showing his value to City to secure a new

£80million contract.

Chelsea should look away now but he is worth much more than that. And, yet, despite rattling through managers the Blues remain a trophywinning machine.

Under Thomas Tuchel they have found an impressive new ruthlessness. They showed no intention of entertaining, or putting their two-goal first-leg advantage at risk, in their second leg against Porto in midweek.

Certainly the 1-0 defeat did not allow the likes of Christian Pulisic to shine but he did impress with two goals in last weekend’s 4-1 win at Crystal Palace.

Chelsea have shown they have more than one way of winning, which is why this is the biggest threat to a City clean sweep so far.