“One more,” Erling Haaland said. “One more.”
It is as simple as that for Manchester City now: one more match to win, one more trophy to lift. Do that, and they will be treble winners.
Their joy at beating Manchester United in the FA Cup final yesterday was there for all to see. Pep Guardiola in tears, the players bouncing up and down arm in arm, physios lifted onto shoulders, turned upside down and spun around.
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Had this been the last game of their season, it would have meant the world, but with it setting up a shot at history next Saturday in Istanbul, it must mean even more. It feels like their time.
For all that City eventually flexed their muscles on the Wembley pitch, looking a level above United for most of the second half even if they never quite made the game feel comfortable, it was their jubilant crossfield dash towards their supporters after the full-time whistle that seemed to say so much about them and how they are shaping up.
A lazy observation to make when the ticker tape was still falling, perhaps, but they just look unstoppable: the energy in those celebrations showed the vibrancy and togetherness in the camp.
Guardiola had joined the players’ huddle and, when it subsided, he pointed to the far end of the stadium that housed the City fans for the afternoon. The players, as always, carried out his orders with a flourish: they sprinted, jumped and cheered their way down the pitch.
😘🏆#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/54xHZEtq5S
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) June 3, 2023
Their third straight Premier League title was clinched two weeks ago without them having to kick a ball, their celebrations hurried, slightly stolen away from them. Not here. They had to fight until the very end to get this one over the line, and the celebrations were all the more visceral as a result.
They know how to work hard, these City players. But they also know how to enjoy the fruits of their labours. They will have been on it last night.
“Course I am,” Jack Grealish said, a more committed enjoyer than most. “I don’t win an FA Cup every week, so I’m going to enjoy it. Straight back to training and recovery tomorrow. I love this club, the players and the staff.”
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Imagine what the celebrations would look like next Saturday in the Ataturk Olympic Stadium if they beat Inter and get their hands on the trophy that, without a shadow of a doubt, they want more than any other.
Especially now, with the other two legs of the treble safely in the bag. Guardiola has always said that he would only discuss ‘the treble’ if they got to the stage where they only had one game to go. They do now: the Champions League final.
Even so, he did not want to get into it.
“I don’t think about it,” Guardiola said. “I am thinking what we have to do to beat Inter. People talk about treble — ‘Forget about it, focus on what we have to do’.”
He did come close, though, while discussing his players’ schedule for the coming week.
“One more to go” — even the City manager cannot escape that. “Two days off, many players will come tomorrow for our physios. They feel we are in a position we will probably never be in again and after we have three or four training sessions, prepare for Milan, three days to watch it and go there to try.
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“We have done incredible — five Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, four Carabao Cups (in seven seasons under Guardiola) — but we have to win the Champions League to be recognised how the team deserves to be. It has been amazing, fun — but we have to win it.”
It feels like City could actually be in this situation again next year, given they were not a million miles away from it last season and that they always seem to come back stronger even after all of those trophies, but the stars do seem to be aligning right now.
The question is: who can possibly stop them? There is only one team left to attempt it: Inter. The Italians are underdogs, as United were yesterday, but not to be underestimated by any stretch.
Guardiola had two days off at the start of last week — he knows when to give the players some time —and, beyond going to see Elton John in concert in Manchester, he’s spent most of the past few days finding out how Inter play, watching their games.
“Because I didn’t know Inter much,” he says (the clubs have never met in a competitive game). He will come next week.
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The players were in business mode as they spoke to the media afterwards, too. Taking it one game at a time, not getting ahead of themselves; the usual stuff.
Kevin De Bruyne said that, regardless of the result next weekend, they have had a great season, and that is undoubtedly true but, as Guardiola keeps saying, the Champions League is the one that moves the needle for City now.
He means externally, what is required for those outside the club to give them credit, but Haaland has said enough times now that City signed him last summer to win the Champions League and it is clearly the final piece of the puzzle. Not that they will stop there, you would imagine.
Winning is addictive. Rodri and Guardiola walked with their arms around each other’s shoulders, reflecting on the battle as the rest danced in front of their supporters. They enjoyed their time with the trophy, too; Ilkay Gundogan, the big-game performer, lofting the cup above his head in the stands and again down on the pitch, and again in front of the City fans as they olé’d.
The players bounced up and down to Freed From Desire and, inevitably, their kitman did his slide across the dressing room floor in his underwear — a staple of these City victories. “Hey, watch my Gucci bag!” Grealish exclaimed as the slide went on further than planned.
John Stones ran through the mixed zone shouting, “I’m off”. There was a party to get to.
They know what is ahead of them but, first, they will appreciate what they have already achieved.
Did Guardiola dare mention the ‘T’ word to his men after the final whistle?
“No. I didn’t have time.”
One more to go.
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Welcome to Manchester City 3.0
(Top photo: Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)