Pep Guardiola will attempt to draw level with Sir Alex Ferguson in achieving an impressive record when Manchester City face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Catalan coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest of his generation, has been the catalyst behind a tremendous trophy-laden decade of dominance at Man City, lifting silverware 18 times since arriving at the club in 2016.
Guardiola is a six-time Premier League winner who also successfully steered the Citizens to their first-ever Champions League triumph as part of a historic treble in the 2022-23 campaign.
The trio of trophies won that season included the FA Cup, a competition Guardiola has won twice as City boss (in 2019 and 2023) and he is hoping to lift England’s most prestigious cup for a third time this weekend.
Guardiola has also won four EFL Cups at Man City and should the Citizens prevail against Crystal Palace in the 144th FA Cup final, the 54-year-old will become just the second manager to win both major English domestic cup competitions at least three times after Alex Ferguson.
Manchester United icon Ferguson – the club’s most successful manager who is regularly compared to Guardiola in the debate over who is the greatest manager of all time – won five FA Cups and four EFL Cups during his legendary 26-year career in the Old Trafford dugout.
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Guardiola talks up ‘massive importance’ of FA Cup final
Guardiola has insisted that he and his players are as hungry as ever to add another trophy to their collection; victory on Saturday would also ensure that City avoid ending the 2024-25 campaign without a domestic trophy.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Guardiola smirked as he began with a joking comment, saying: “That is the problem now right, the FA Cup is not the first choice.” He added: “Of course we want it. Once we are here of course we want the trophy. It is massively important.
“When we are here we want to lift the trophy. Last year we were disappointed with our performance (losing to Man United in FA Cup final). To win the trophy you have to be there and win previous games and we have done it many times in previous years.”
Guardiola has confirmed that there is no change on the injury front for Man City, meaning Rodri (knee/fitness), Nathan Ake (foot), John Stones (thigh) and Oscar Bobb (hamstring) all remain unavailable for selection.
Meanwhile, the Catalan was full of respect for the threat Crystal Palace could pose at Wembley, saying: “It is a fantastic team. They have had a good season, second part. More than a year with Oliver [Glasner] working with the same players.
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Guardiola: ‘It’s an honour and privilege to reach FA Cup final’
“Pace and quality. They are a threat because they have quality. [Jean-Philippe] Mateta is strong and the quality in [Eberechi] Eze is obvious and of course the pace from [Ismaila] Sarr.
“Sarr against Aston Villa in the semi-finals they punished them a lot, incredible pace. But not just him, [Daniel] Munoz, [Adam] Wharton is really good holding midfielder who links well inside.
“They are well structured defensively and their set pieces is one of the best in the Premier League. It’s a final. If we play against Palace or Aston Villa it would be the same. It’s a final, we cannot expect anything different.”
Guardiola added: “It’s the final of the FA Cup, an honour and privilege. Of course we have to perform well. We travel to London and we will try to win the title.”
Man City will back themselves to come out on top on Saturday; they head into the final unbeaten in 10 games across all competitions (W7 D3) and have also not lost any of their last seven meetings with Crystal Palace (W4 D3), most recently coming from behind to win 5-2 in the Premier League on April 12.
While Guardiola is bidding to match Ferguson’s impressive trophy feat, Man City striker Erling Haaland is out to avoid extending an unwanted scoring record.
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