By Wednesday night, it was done. There won’t be an FA Cup final more momentous than the one coming up in a month.
Manchester City will enter the Champions League final at Wembley as the winners. They have a good chance of repeating United’s 24-year-old Triple Crown. The team with the best tools to stop them is United.
City appears to be an unstoppable force with world-class players in goal, defense, midfield, up forward, and on the sidelines.
City has played 19 games since the weekend that United defeated them in the League Cup final, winning 17 and drawing two. The impasses that kept people’s spirits high were in Madrid and Munich.
There have been five losses for United in their last 19, all away from Old Trafford and most of them shocking, and they have won 10 of their last 19 games.
It is irrelevant that City was the last team to lose a true FA Cup final shock against Wigan ten years ago. Roberto Mancini’s successful but troubled tenure came to an end on that day when he attacked the City press representative during the post-game press conference. City under Pep Guardiola are getting close to their pinnacle.
It is fortunate for United that the Europa League final will not interfere with their FA Cup final week. Beyond the Cup semifinals, the gentle surrender in Seville is a blessing; it should be the end of those team players who have overstayed their welcome.
With his final XI, Erik ten Hag will need to think outside the box. He placed Bruno Fernandes on the wing, started Christian Eriksen at No. 10 for the only time all season, and placed Fred in midfield for the January Old Trafford derby. We can expect a repetition.
A year ago, all it took was a quick glance at the far corner of the Arthur Wait Stand at Selhurst Park to see how United supporters felt about City’s achievement. They could be seen rejoicing over City’s victory over Aston Villa as the Treble was preserved amid a potential Liverpool quadruple.
For United supporters, some of City’s success over the past 12 years has been just about tolerable. In the last days of 2014, 2019, and 2022, City maintained their composure to prevent Liverpool from winning richester championships than their sterile coronation in 2020.
The phrase “Chelsea’s success is f—–g hollow” was first sung by United fans in 2007, the year before City took control. The football City plays is as clean as their achievements.
And muck sticks, as a United employee pointed out earlier this year. When City wins the Premier League championship this weekend, it will mark the second set of City centurions five years after they reached their milestone of 100 points. They are facing 115 financial charges from the Premier League.
City has been in this situation before, when they were successful in getting a two-year Uefa ban lifted in 2020. Pep Guardiola’s tactical error in the 2021 final and Real Madrid’s last-gasp attempt have postponed the inevitable as City closes in on its first European Cup. In a successful European final for United, Matteo Darmian and Henrikh Mkhitaryan began, but their greatest red contributions were to deprive City.
If the 30,500 tickets allotted do not end up in the wrong hands, United will be sure that they will receive more support than City at Wembley in 16 days. For the benefit of the spectators, let’s hope there aren’t any plastic flags like there were for the 2016 final, which created a dull environment following a boisterous semi-final.
The infamous “wall of white” stunt for the Europa League semifinal match at Anfield in March 2016 has served as a lesson for United. An invitation to don the white shirt and create a mosaic-like effect in the Anfield Road End was extended to ticket holders along with a white away shirt. Even though it was March and an evening kickoff, coat weather, it was out of touch with Merseyside’s colorblind fan base.
United has lost eight of its 20 FA Cup final appearances. Some young Salfordians were so enraged by Bolton’s barely legal victory in 1958 that their coach was attacked with tomatoes, stones, and chunks of turf. Infuriating surprises occurred in 1976 and 1979, and the 1995 conclusion promised everything but delivered nothing.
On June 3, a first-ever all-Manchester final defeat would almost definitely hurt more. The semi-final victory over United in 2011 marked the beginning of City’s reign of dominance, and the worst is likely yet to come this season.