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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last time Manchester City failed to win a single piece of silverware during a season was when Pep Guardiola first arrived in English soccer, in the 2016/17 season. Now the </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-04-28-liverpool-savour-sweet-record-equalling-english-top-flight-win/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recently dethroned</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> English champions are just one match away from maintaining this incredible trophy-winning run, or ending the season empty-handed for the first time in eight years.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the flipside, City’s opponents in the Cup final – Crystal Palace – have never won a single major trophy in their 119-year history. On paper, City are the clear favourites, while the Eagles are emphatic underdogs. But in soccer, history has constantly proven that the laws of nature are not always applicable; even the most intimidating predators can be preyed upon.</span>\r\n<h4><b>No pressure on Palace</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Palace’s Austrian manager Oliver Glasner is counting on such an anomaly for the showdown at the historic Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday, 17 May. Glasner feels that the burden to secure a victory at all costs rests solely on City’s shoulders. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I feel it’s important not to do anything special or specific just because it’s a big game,” said Glasner. “The message will be to stick to our strengths, stick to the way we want to play and stick to what has worked.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“To be honest, there’s no pressure on us,” echoed Palace defender and captain Marc Guéhi. “We’ve got nothing to lose. All the onus is always on the opposition, because no one expects us to be in this position anyway. We must just go out there and keep playing the way we have done all season.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>City’s struggles</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City rewrote history last season as they clinched a record-setting fourth consecutive Premier League title. After reaching such heights, it was always going to be a difficult task to maintain the sort of form that has seen City brush aside a number of challengers since Guardiola took over the coaching reins.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, no one could have predicted just how low City would plunge this season. The team is involved in a tight race for European Champions League qualification with the likes of Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and Aston Villa.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this season’s Champions League, Guardiola’s men were ousted 6-3 on aggregate by Real Madrid in the playoff stage after failing to qualify automatically for the round of 16. The defeat marked City’s earliest exit from Europe’s premier club competition in more than a decade.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2722215\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2214520173.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1790\" height=\"1154\" /> <em>Marc Guéhi of Crystal Palace scores a goal that is later disallowed during their Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 11 May 2025 in London, England. (Photo: Julian Finney / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2722199\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2213583979.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1839\" height=\"1132\" /> <em>Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner. (Photo: Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2722201\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2214130867.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1742\" height=\"1181\" /> <em>Man City manager Pep Guardiola. (Photo: Joe Prior / Visionhaus via Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite a season that all involved with the club will hastily want to erase from their memories, there may still be something to smile about come the end of the campaign. But Guardiola says it won’t be easy; they lost last season’s final to neighbours Manchester United. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The FA Cup is the most challenging and beautiful domestic cup competition in the world, there is no doubt about that,” Guardiola stated.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“This is our third year in a row in the FA Cup final, which is something we are very, very proud of. In the FA Cup, you play all the top teams from the Premier League and the Championship, and there are always times when it is difficult,” the Spanish coach said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“To have made three finals in a row shows how consistent we have been. It says everything about this generation of players and the club itself.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>De Bruyne’s farewell</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One important player from this successful City generation who is on his way out is captain Kevin de Bruyne. The Belgian midfielder, who turns 34 in June, leaves Manchester after a decade during which he won every single trophy on offer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The battle with Palace provides De Bruyne with the opportunity to do it one last time and secure his third Cup success with City.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“He has had an incredible time at Manchester City. It is ridiculous how many trophies he has won. Hopefully he will get one more trophy,” said City striker Erling Haaland.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Norwegian sharpshooter has benefited greatly from De Bruyne’s creativity since joining City in 2022. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“To get the balls from him is a dream,” said Haaland. “It has been really special playing with him. Such a joy, and I am going to do everything I can to have this joy in the last few games.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two sides will do battle on Saturday, 17 May at 5.30pm. </span><b>DM </b>",
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"name": "Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, reacts during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC at Etihad Stadium on May 2, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)",
"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last time Manchester City failed to win a single piece of silverware during a season was when Pep Guardiola first arrived in English soccer, in the 2016/17 season. Now the </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-04-28-liverpool-savour-sweet-record-equalling-english-top-flight-win/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recently dethroned</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> English champions are just one match away from maintaining this incredible trophy-winning run, or ending the season empty-handed for the first time in eight years.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the flipside, City’s opponents in the Cup final – Crystal Palace – have never won a single major trophy in their 119-year history. On paper, City are the clear favourites, while the Eagles are emphatic underdogs. But in soccer, history has constantly proven that the laws of nature are not always applicable; even the most intimidating predators can be preyed upon.</span>\r\n<h4><b>No pressure on Palace</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Palace’s Austrian manager Oliver Glasner is counting on such an anomaly for the showdown at the historic Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday, 17 May. Glasner feels that the burden to secure a victory at all costs rests solely on City’s shoulders. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I feel it’s important not to do anything special or specific just because it’s a big game,” said Glasner. “The message will be to stick to our strengths, stick to the way we want to play and stick to what has worked.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“To be honest, there’s no pressure on us,” echoed Palace defender and captain Marc Guéhi. “We’ve got nothing to lose. All the onus is always on the opposition, because no one expects us to be in this position anyway. We must just go out there and keep playing the way we have done all season.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>City’s struggles</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City rewrote history last season as they clinched a record-setting fourth consecutive Premier League title. After reaching such heights, it was always going to be a difficult task to maintain the sort of form that has seen City brush aside a number of challengers since Guardiola took over the coaching reins.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, no one could have predicted just how low City would plunge this season. The team is involved in a tight race for European Champions League qualification with the likes of Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and Aston Villa.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this season’s Champions League, Guardiola’s men were ousted 6-3 on aggregate by Real Madrid in the playoff stage after failing to qualify automatically for the round of 16. The defeat marked City’s earliest exit from Europe’s premier club competition in more than a decade.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2722215\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1790\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2722215\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2214520173.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1790\" height=\"1154\" /> <em>Marc Guéhi of Crystal Palace scores a goal that is later disallowed during their Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 11 May 2025 in London, England. (Photo: Julian Finney / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2722199\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1839\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2722199\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2213583979.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1839\" height=\"1132\" /> <em>Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner. (Photo: Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2722201\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1742\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2722201\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2214130867.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1742\" height=\"1181\" /> <em>Man City manager Pep Guardiola. (Photo: Joe Prior / Visionhaus via Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite a season that all involved with the club will hastily want to erase from their memories, there may still be something to smile about come the end of the campaign. But Guardiola says it won’t be easy; they lost last season’s final to neighbours Manchester United. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The FA Cup is the most challenging and beautiful domestic cup competition in the world, there is no doubt about that,” Guardiola stated.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“This is our third year in a row in the FA Cup final, which is something we are very, very proud of. In the FA Cup, you play all the top teams from the Premier League and the Championship, and there are always times when it is difficult,” the Spanish coach said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“To have made three finals in a row shows how consistent we have been. It says everything about this generation of players and the club itself.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>De Bruyne’s farewell</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One important player from this successful City generation who is on his way out is captain Kevin de Bruyne. The Belgian midfielder, who turns 34 in June, leaves Manchester after a decade during which he won every single trophy on offer.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The battle with Palace provides De Bruyne with the opportunity to do it one last time and secure his third Cup success with City.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“He has had an incredible time at Manchester City. It is ridiculous how many trophies he has won. Hopefully he will get one more trophy,” said City striker Erling Haaland.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Norwegian sharpshooter has benefited greatly from De Bruyne’s creativity since joining City in 2022. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“To get the balls from him is a dream,” said Haaland. “It has been really special playing with him. 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Marc Guéhi of Crystal Palace scores a goal that is later disallowed during their Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 11 May 2025 in London, England. (Photo: Julian Finney / Getty Images)
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner. (Photo: Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)
Man City manager Pep Guardiola. (Photo: Joe Prior / Visionhaus via Getty Images)