The FA Cup remains in Manchester: Julián Álvarez’s City and Garnacho’s United aim for the last title in English football

A triad achieved by a single English team is the big goal Manchester City this season. The set that has Giuliano Alvarez already secured the title of Premier League and next weekend will fight for the Champions League with Inter inside Istanbul. First he will try to win the FA Cup. But it will not be an easy mission: he will have to measure his strength in the final with Manchester Utdwhich will see the participation of Alejandro Garnacho, this Saturday at 11 at Wembley (will broadcast ESPN).

Although much of the attention is focused on the match against Inter on Saturday 10 June, in which City will try to win a Scudetto they have never won, the definition of the FA Cup is no small task. It will also have as an extra topping that it will be in an unprecedented derby: for the first time in 190 clashes between the two, the two Manchester clubs will meet in a final of the oldest tournament on the planet, which already has 142 editions.

The cast led by Joseph Guardiola He reached this stage after leaving Chelsea, Arsenal, Bristol City, Burnley and Sheffield United away. In those five games he scored 17 goals and didn’t concede. The last time a team had reached a final without conceding a goal was in the 1965/66 season, when Everton did (they then beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 in the deciding duel). The last team to establish themselves with their clean arc was Bury in 1903.

In their twelfth final, City will be looking for a seventh title in a competition won in 1904, 1934, 1956, 1969, 2011 and 2019. If they succeed, the recent Premier League winners will be one step away from the treble which, among English clubs, he managed Manchester United only in 1999. The last step to climb would be the Champions League final.

However, Guardiola does not lose his temper. “I won’t think about the hat-trick until I arrive in Istanbul with two titles in my pocket”warned the Catalan manager that this Saturday he will try to keep the 34th title of his career as a manager and the 13th in seven years at City.

Still far from his coach’s numbers, Julián Álvarez also faces a huge possibility for a footballer of just 23 years. The Calchín-born striker lifted the World Cup in Qatar in December, celebrated victory in the Premier League two weeks ago and now has two more finals ahead of him. All this in his first European season, in which he has already played 49 games and scored 17 goals for City.

The first strong opportunity to frustrate the hat-trick of citizens United will have it, the team that will try to keep that privilege among the English of having won the three crowns in the same year. Even if this is not the main motivation for Erik ten Hag. “It’s not about stopping them. It’s about winning a cup. We have a great opportunity and we fought hard for it,” cautioned the Dutch coach.

United finished third in the Premier League thanks to a final four-game winning streak to secure a place in next season’s Champions League. They will now be looking for their second silverware this season after their League Cup anointing in February (they beat Newcastle 2-0 in the final), which ended a six-year drought without a crown.

On the way to this decisive duel, the red devils they left Everton, Reading, West Ham United, Fulham and Brighton & Hove Albion on the road. In their 21st final, they will be looking to reclaim their 13th FA Cup title, a tournament in which only Arsenal (14) have won more titles.