Manchester City extended their winning run to 21 games, after a late win against Premier League opposition, Wolverhampton Wanderers to stay on course to win the quadruple. In 2019, City became the first men’s side to win the domestic treble. Now the Cityzens will look to go one step further and claim the quadruple.
Manchester City Continue Winning Streak
City in Red Hot Form
Manchester City has not dropped a point in the Premier League since their 1-1 draw with West Brom in December. After the Baggies earned a surprising point, Slaven Bilic was sacked. With no other manager getting the better of Pep Guardiola since Bilic’s last result for West Brom was a huge achievement.
However, the 3-1 win against Chelsea was the first match of the season when City really showed their class, comfortably controlling the game for long periods.
As the new year developed, City got stronger. While not the flashiest Pep Guardiola Manchester City team, a ruthless nature crept into the side. Whereby, clean sheets became normal for City.
The partnership between John Stones and Ruben Dias has become key to City’s success. The ball-playing central defenders allow City to keep possession while interrupting the attacking flow of the opposition.
Manchester City’s 4-1 win against Liverpool was a standout game. With City’s crusading performance toppling the Premier League champions.
With every other team sporadically dropping points, City’s consistency will see them win the Premier League for the third time in four years.
Cup Success
With three league cups in Pep Guardiola’s growing trophy cabinet, Guardiola has taken City to yet another League Cup final.
For many clubs, City’s route to the final would have been a daunting prospect. However, the City made the task look straightforward. Comfortable wins against Burnley, Arsenal, and Manchester United booked the Cityzens a place in the final.
Manchester City will take on Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham. The Portuguese manager will likely implement a counter-attacking style to unpick City, as they did in their 2-0 win between the two sides earlier in the season. However, City will be expecting a similar performance to their most recent Premier League encounter when Guardiola’s side won 3-0.
FA Cup
Pep Guardiola will look to add to his one FA Cup win from 2019 when City demolished Watford 6-0.
With Premier League opposition taking the competition more seriously this season, the route to the FA Cup final will be more of a challenge, compared to the 2018/19 campaign. Manchester City takes on Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton in the quarter-final. City has the potential of playing Leicester City, Manchester United, or Chelsea in the next round. Although, Guardiola’s side remain the team to beat.
Champions League
The Champions League is the only trophy Guardiola is yet to bring to Manchester City. While such an intense authority has commanded unrivalled success domestically. The same trait has led to Manchester City’s downfall in the Champions League.
The willingness to compete at the highest level in every domestic competition available has taken away from City’s progress in the Champions League.
At times, Guardiola has looked tactically naive in the European competition. Manchester City’s most recent Champions League quarter-final exit occurred with a 3-1 defeat to Lyon. Presumably, intending to rest players for the next round, Guardiola left out several of his creative players, most notably David Silva.
The lack of creative ability soon showed and Manchester City crashed out of the competition. With the Champions League reduced to a single leg format for the 2019/20 season, Guardiola appeared to have missed the golden opportunity to bring City their first Champions League trophy.
A 2-0 win away to Borussia Monchengladbach, means that City will likely progress to the quarter-finals. Previous finalists, Bayern Munich and PSG will be Guardiola’s biggest challengers if City is to win the competition.
While the Champions League will be the toughest part of the quadruple, City is the only team in Europe who have the squad depth to do so. Winning the quadruple will surely be the greatest achievement of a Premier League manager while making Guardiola one of the best managers of all time.
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