Pep Guardiola can mastermind a historic treble for Manchester City which may include the elusive Champions League, in a bid to recreate a feat he achieved while in charge of Barcelona.
Guardiola guided Barcelona to La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League titles in the 2008/09 season and the Spaniard is on the verge of repeating that success in Manchester.
The Citizens are four points behind Arsenal in the Premier League with a game in hand, are in the semifinal of t the Champions League and face Sheffield United in the FA Cup semifinals Saturday.
There has been a lot of pressure put on Guardiola as the Spaniard is yet to win the European competition with Man City. Star striker Erling Haaland also stated that his goal is to win the Champions League with the club.
Man City’s treble hopes rest on the final two months of the season. They have just eight matches left in the Premier League, and a maximum of two in the FA Cup and four in the UEFA Champions League.
Man City have eight games left in the league, with their away trip to Brighton yet to be scheduled. Their match against Arsenal could decide who wins the Premier League, but they have also dropped points against Everton and Brentford this season.
The semifinal clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League is a massive one knowing well that they were knocked out by Los Blancos last year at the same stage after a very late comeback from the reigning champions. Rodrygo scored twice in injury time before Karim Benzema scored a penalty in extra time to seal a 6-5 defeat on aggregate for Man City.
However, Man City will be heavy favourites in their FA Cup semifinal against Sheffield United at Wembley Stadium, but they cannot afford to underestimate them after the Blades beat Tottenham on their way to this round.
The winner of the semifinal will come up against Brighton & Hove Albion or Man United in the final, which is due to take place on June 3.
Although Guardiola has once led City to a treble and that was when they secured the Premier League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup but this one will be different because it will include the elusive European success.
Meanwhile, they have to take a huge step towards achieving that success as tey face Sheffield today in an FA Cup semifinal.
The Citizens have been beaten by Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in the last three FA Cup semi-finals, but they will fancy their chances against the Blades on Saturday having won each of their last 21 domestic cup ties against teams from lower divisions, scoring 78 goals and conceding just 11 in the process – a 1-0 FA Cup fourth-round loss to Wigan Athletic in February 2018 was the last time that City tasted defeat against lower-league opposition.
City have progressed past Chelsea, Arsenal, Bristol City and Burnley in the previous four rounds of this season’s FA Cup by an aggregate score of 14-0, including a 6-0 quarter-final victory against the latter at the Etihad Stadium last month, and Guardiola’s men could become the first team since Everton in 1965-66 to reach the FA Cup final without conceding a goal if they manage to keep a clean sheet on Saturday.
Sheffield warded off challenges from Tottenham in the previous fixture but they stand no chance derailing Man City’s treble bid.
