Thoroughbreds so good they can win cup at canter
Guardiola’s City cruising towards the first part of their dream quadruple, writes Luke Edwards
There is nothing more ominous in Manchester City’s ongoing quest for domination in English football than the team sheet Pep Guardiola hands in before every Carabao Cup tie. City are out of sight in the Premier League title race and moved effortlessly into the knockout stage of the Champions League. But perhaps the strongest indication of how heavily the scales are tipped in their favour is to watch a team, with six changes made to the one that would generally be considered their strongest, lining up in a cup semi-final they pretend they are not even bothered about winning.
This was a team chosen with squad rotation in mind, in a fixture earmarked to give anyone suffering from fatigue a rest, who played well below the standard expected of them and still emerged as the overwhelming favourites to reach the final because of second-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and substitute Sergio Ageuro.
Football has always been a game of the haves and have-nots, but rarely has one team had so much. Then again, never has one club been owned by an oil-rich sovereign state with an insatiable hunger for sporting glory.
City’s starting XI were all full internationals, assembled at a combined cost of just under £360 million, playing a team from the Championship which cost roughly £7million. City’s strength in depth is a frightening prospect, as Guardiola’s attempts to become the first manager of an English team to win the quadruple. He says he does not think that will happen, but when you have got to January and lost one game in 10 months – a dead rubber in Ukraine just before Christmas – you cannot dismiss the possibility. A team who are rewriting record books are more than capable of chiselling their name into the history ones.
Only one English team, Manchester United, have done the treble. The one trophy Sir Alex Ferguson’s best side missed out on, 19 years ago, was the League Cup. Like City, it was the trophy they were least interested in winning. City, though, look good enough to win it without really trying.
The Carabao Cup was bottom of City’s list of priorities in August, a consolation prize if they missed out on more salubrious silverware. Five months later, they are one game away from reaching the final and have got here despite resting senior players in every round. No matter how many changes he makes, Guardiola looks incapable of sending out a weakened side.
However, he can send out a sloppy one, a team lacking focus, drive and determination. He sent out a team last night who expected to win, and got a shock when their Championship opponents refused to accept resistance was futile.
Guardiola’s men may have been wasteful in front of goal, but Bristol City were superb. Bolder than anyone thought they would be. They somehow made an unfair fight resemble a fair one, at least in
the first half. Guardiola’s men have brushed aside better teams with ease, but this was a timely reminder that cup games have different scriptwriters, plots with twists and the potential for shocks. Manchester United took Lee Johnson’s side too lightly and paid the price in the quarter-final. This should have been a Manchester derby, but Bristol ruined that and may yet deprive City of a place at Wembley.
When the visitors took a deserved lead before half-time through Bobby Reid’s spot-kick, and the 7,680 fans who had travelled with them roared and bounced with joy, it was a moment to cherish. City will probably be too strong in the second leg, but at least the tie remains alive, which is more than can be said for the Premier League title race.