It is not just about Liverpool – City can win cup treble
Most of the focus in lockdown has been on the club looking for their first domestic title in three decades. We should not overlook the one seeking to become European champions for the first time in their 140-year history.
Amid the debate about which clubs have most to gain when English football resumes on June 17, Manchester City have gone under the radar. That might suit Pep Guardiola as he prepares his players for what might be another historic campaign finale. City can win another treble this season, including the prize they arguably crave most of all – the Champions League, the final of which should have been taking place in Turkey today.
Guardiola is in the middle of a winning sequence which has already secured City’s place among the greatest teams this country has seen. They have won six of the past seven domestic trophies going back to their League Cup win in 2018. Technically, they could make it eight of the past nine if Liverpool were somehow to lose their 25-point Premier League lead. More realistically, there is a possibility City will extend the run to seven of the past nine by adding the FA Cup.
What will be of more interest to Guardiola and his bosses over the coming weeks are the discussions at Uefa about how it intends to complete this season’s Champions League. Before the suspension of games, the tournament was evolving in such a way to present City with their best chance of being European champions since Guardiola took charge at the Etihad. By outclassing Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, they had just made the club’s biggest statement on the Continent since winning the 1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
The major obstacle to success in the competition, Liverpool, are out. I do not see any side left better than City. Paris St-germain, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are the greatest threats, although the La Liga champions still have work to do to beat Napoli, and Bayern must finish the job against Chelsea to reach the quarter-finals. Even if City are paired with the French and Spanish champions, I believe the technical nature of those games would suit the English club. They would be much different types of encounters to their past two quarter-final defeats.
Because the French league was cancelled, PSG have a massive disadvantage going back into a tournament without having played, and Barca are not what they were. That leaves Bayern as the most dangerous potential opponents, helped by their earlier return to
Bundesliga action. I still believe
City are stronger.
That is why City are my favourites.
I doubt there will be a club who want it more than them.
During the lockdown, I watched City’s All Or Nothing documentary covering the 2017-18 season, and what struck me was Guardiola’s ability to use emotional situations to motivate his squad. There was a fixture against Tottenham before which Guardiola instructed his players to dedicate their performance to David Silva and his partner, Yessica Suarez Gonzalez, as they dealt with the serious complications following the premature birth of their son. The team responded with a 4-1 win.
Over the past few months, Guardiola has suffered personal tragedy with the death of his mother when the pandemic was reaching its peak in Spain. We can never presume how such grief will affect an individual, but the example of Silva two years ago – his son thankfully recovering – demonstrated how the most trying of circumstances can bring a group closer together. Guardiola may not need any more inspiration, but the chance for his next major trophy to be a tribute to his family may fuel him and his players.
Grievances against the authorities offer another incentive. City have a pressing date with Uefa off the pitch on June 8, with the Court of
City are my favourites for the Champions League. I doubt there is a club who want it more than them
Arbitration for Sport determining the legality of their Champions League ban imposed for the alleged breaches of financial fair play rules. Just as the shock of Uefa’s initial statement must have had a demoralising impact at City, should Cas rule in their favour, it will galvanise them.
Despite the plaudits for City over the past three years, there is a persistent sense around the club that they have not always received the acclaim their feats merit.
The truth is that Guardiola’s first title, won with 100 points, was widely recognised as one of the most extraordinary Premier League achievements, and you will not need to look far to find article upon article about how he has redefined how to succeed in England, and influenced a generation of coaches.
That impact has extended to another English tradition because until Guardiola came along, the idea of a “cup team” was like damning with faint praise. It implied a side were capable of turning it on in a one-off fixture, while lacking the mentality to deliver over a 38-game season.
Guardiola’s City have trampled over that. If they win a cup treble, they will match what the Liverpool team I played in managed in 2000-01, playing every possible fixture in a season. The Champions League would make their accomplishment greater. City are the ultimate league and cup team of the era. Only one trophy is missing from their collection, so it is not only those coaches chasing promotion and league titles who are craving a successful restart.