Pep Guardiola says Manchester City’s season would still be a success even if they do not win the Premier League, with the club now turning to Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.
City have already lifted the League Cup this season after beating Arsenal in the final, and Guardiola argued that a campaign cannot be measured only by one trophy or one table position. He said the value of a season depends on the trophies a team lifts, but also noted that a side can win silverware and still judge the year badly. For City, a second trophy would also make them the sixth team to win both the League Cup and the FA Cup in the same season.
That chance comes after a bruising run in the competition. City are the first team to reach four consecutive FA Cup finals, but they lost their two previous finals, to Manchester United in 2024 and to Crystal Palace last year. Chelsea have their own scar tissue at Wembley: they lost the FA Cup final in three consecutive seasons from 2020 to 2022.
Guardiola was blunt about what has shaped City’s week. They played Palace on Wednesday, leaving less time to prepare than Chelsea, who had not played for seven days before the final. He said he would prefer the same break, but accepted that winning trophies often comes with a tighter schedule. “It’s simple,” he said. “It’s not the perfect scenario to prepare a final, because we have not trained since the last match against Crystal Palace.”
The timing matters because the broader title race is not settled yet. Arsenal would secure the Premier League title if they win their final two matches against Burnley and Palace, so City’s season can still tilt in different directions even before the Wembley result is decided. Guardiola insisted that his view of the campaign would not change because of that outcome, saying he had already described it as very good.
There is also a familiar problem waiting for City on the pitch. They have gone 13 matches without a win against Chelsea in all competitions, a run that stands out even by the standards of top-level football. Chelsea’s former Manchester City academy player Cole Palmer could be important again, and academy coach Calum McFarlane defended him when asked about his form, saying he had not claimed Palmer was out of his best level and adding that he had produced very good matches while dealing with injuries.
For City, the final is about more than fixing one record. It is a chance to turn a season of mixed pressure into one that ends with another trophy, and to do it against an opponent that has repeatedly made life difficult for them.
