For Liverpool it is the six Champions Leagues and Istanbul. For Arsenal it is the Invincibles. For Man United it is the treble and that night in Barcelona.
Every club has a legacy that they cherish. Now, Man Utd’s greatest-ever achievement is in danger of being replicated by their noisy neighbours, Man City. Just two games stand between them and their own treble.
Those miraculous 10 days in May 1999 which saw Sir Alex Ferguson’s side win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in the most dramatic fashion could soon be about to lose some mystique.
It’s not quite the same if someone else has done it. Especially when you consider City won the league this season with 20 more points than United’s team from 1999.
But Erik ten Hag’s side have a chance to protect that legacy by stopping City in Saturday’s FA Cup final, the first time the showpiece event has ever been contested by the two Manchester clubs.
Ten Hag, though, wants his players to remain focused on the possibility of claiming their second trophy of the season, rather than preventing City from matching the unique feat.
“We want to win a cup,” said Ten Hag, whose first piece of silverware at United was the League Cup in February. “It is not about stopping them. It is about how we win a cup. We have a great opportunity.”
United finished the season 14 points adrift of Champions City, but are showing big signs of improvement under the Dutchman, who has guided them to a third-placed finish in his first campaign.
Guardiola, who briefly worked with Ten Hag at Bayern Munich, has been impressed by the United manager.
“Always I identify a manager by how the team improves,” said Guardiola. “Just look at the team when he arrived and now.
“So when you see the team get better and better and better – and it is not easy in the first season in the Premier League – I identify a really good manager.
“He is a guy who represents our profession in the best way on the pitch and off the pitch. I cannot say we are friends, because we are not in touch much, we had a short experience in Munich.
“I think Man Utd has an exceptional manager for many years.”
Ten Hag, unlike Guardiola, is only at the beginning of his journey in Manchester. The gap in quality has certainly closed this season, but there is still some way to go for United to catch up.
This was perfectly illustrated in each manager’s pre-match press conferences. Guardiola was asked if this would be Bernardo Silva’s final game at City, while Ten Hag faced similar questions about Wout Weghorst.
That is some gulf in class. Ten Hag knows this, but is adamant his mind is solely on United rather than keeping a close eye on City.
“We want to restore Man Utd but we have a way to go,” he said. “I think City do a very good job, play very good football so they deserve [their success].
“You have to see where you are as a club and you have to make progress. I think over the season we made very good progress, we are in a good direction.”
Speaking of his own personal experience at Old Trafford since his move last summer, he added: “It was a great journey this season. You always enjoy it more when you see the progress of a team – if you see the team and individuals developing and if you work on togetherness.
“I can confirm that all three things: team, individuals and the way we work together in this club is very good. So for me, so far it’s been a great season.”
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson:
“If Manchester City play well then there’s only one winner in Saturday’s FA Cup final – it’s as simple as that.
“But Manchester United have got to give City something different to think about. If they go with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho on the wings, that won’t cause them any problems.
“I’d play Sancho as a false nine. He’s someone who can play in the middle, pick up the ball, turn and run. It also stops John Stones from coming into midfield.
“If City do push Stones into there to pick up Sancho then Rashford and whoever is on the other wing can be making inside runs on the City defence – and that will cause them problems.
“I’d also definitely play Rashford on the right rather than on the left up against Kyle Walker, who is City’s best defender. He won’t be as effective cutting inside from the right but you’ve got to change it up.”
Analysis: Is more pressure on Man Utd than Man City?
Sky Sports’ Ron Walker:
Normally for a side in Man City’s position, within touching distance of a historic treble only once before achieved in English football, all the pressure of Saturday’s final would be on them.
Of course, the pressure to achieve that is still massive – these opportunities come around once in a, pardon the pun, blue moon. But once the dust settles, a Premier League and Champions League double – the latter of which could still make club history on its own – would still represent one of City’s best-ever seasons.
Saturday’s opponents Man Utd are, of course, the only team in England who have completed that treble City crave. And they have it in their power to stop their ‘noisy neighbours’ matching their crowning glory, that of the 1998/99 season which is still the club’s finest hour.
United have plenty of reasons of their own to win the FA Cup, and cap a solid first season for Erik Ten Hag with a second trophy after a six-year barren spell. But personal pride will have an unusually strong hold over Saturday’s final, especially in the United camp.
Ten Hag has played it down in the media, but he surely won’t in the dressing room. If his side can channel their motivation in the right way, it could provide a catalyst which will be key to determining which side of Manchester will hold the trophy come Saturday evening.
City injury woes ease ahead of final, Ortega to keep place
Man City City could be close to full strength on Saturday, despite having fitness concerns in the build-up to the Wembley showpiece.
Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji all missed last weekend’s final Premier League game of the season at Brentford for a variety of reasons.
Training for the quartet was also curtailed as City opted not to take risks ahead of what is a momentous period in the club’s history with the Champions League final to follow next week.
Manager Guardiola says the whole squad is now looking fit and healthy.
He said: “They’ve trained well in the last two training sessions. They are all of them, more or less, fine.”
One member of City’s first-choice XI who will not start, however, is goalkeeper Ederson.
Back-up Stefan Ortega has featured in all domestic cup fixtures this season and, after also playing in two of the last three Premier League games, will be given the nod at Wembley.
“Stefan is going to play,” said Guardiola of the German, who has not conceded a goal in the FA Cup this term.
“I have always been like that in the FA Cup. The keeper who has played in the FA Cup is going to play in the [final].”
Antony ‘unlikely’ to be ready for final after setback
Man Utd have been hit by an injury setback for Antony ahead of the FA Cup final, with Ten Hag saying it is “unlikely” the winger will be fit to face Man City.
Antony went down in agony last Thursday during the first half of the penultimate Premier League game of the season against Chelsea.
He left on a stretcher and Ten Hag feared a “serious” injury, only to allay concerns three days later by saying the “first assessment is not too bad” and that he had a “good opportunity” to face City.
But this week has not gone as well as expected and the Brazil international now looks set to miss the final.
“Unlikely (he will be fit),” he said. “Dos Santos (Antony) still has a chance but it’s a really small chance.
“He didn’t make the progress, so he still has a chance but unlikely he is available.”
Lisandro Martinez, Marcel Sabitzer and Donny van de Beek have long since been ruled out of the final, while Anthony Martial’s injury-hit season will end on the sidelines.
The 27-year-old strained a hamstring towards the end of Sunday’s win against Fulham and will miss the Wembley showdown after scans showed a muscle tear.
“These questions so many times about the absence of players in the last couple of months,” Ten Hag said.
“Every time I say the same answer: it’s about the players who are available and many times we were successful.
“We have a good squad and from that good squad we make a good team.”
Opta facts
- This is the first-ever major final between Manchester City and Manchester United.
- Manchester United have won five of their last six FA Cup meetings with Man City, most recently a 3-2 away win in January 2012. The only exception in that run was a semi-final victory for Man City in 2010-11.
- This will be the third meeting between Man City and Man Utd at Wembley Stadium, with the other two both coming in 2011. The Citizens won an FA Cup semi-final tie 1-0, while the Red Devils won 3-2 in the Community Shield.
- This is Manchester City’s 12th FA Cup final, winning six and losing five of the previous 11. They’ve alternated between losing and winning in their last four, most recently beating Watford 6-0 in 2019.
- Manchester United are contesting their 21st FA Cup final, the joint-most of any side in the history of the competition along with Arsenal. They’ve won the trophy 12 times, with their eight final defeats the joint- most of any side along with Chelsea and Everton.
- Following their Premier League title win, Manchester City could win the league and FA Cup double for the second time in their history, after 2018-19. They would be the third team to do so on more than occasion after Manchester United (1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99) and Arsenal (1970-71, 1997-98, 2001-02).