Manchester City's Fragments of Dignity Remain in FA Cup

MANCHESTER, SATURDAY – The FA Cup is the only event that can save Manchester City from the collapse of their dominance in England during the 2024-2025 season. Without the title of the oldest football competition, "The Citizens" will struggle to rebuild their confidence in order to restore supremacy.

City is the only team to have won the FA Cup trophy in the 21st century that remains in this season's quarterfinals. Their opponent, Bournemouth, is chasing history by aiming to reach the FA Cup semifinals for the first time in a duel at Vitality Stadium on Sunday (30/3/2025) at 10:30 PM WIB.

Of the six other teams remaining, only three have won the FA Cup trophy. Those three teams are Preston North End (1937-1938), Aston Villa (1956-1957), and Nottingham Forest (1958-1959).

Three other teams in the quarterfinals are potential new champions. They are Fulham and Crystal Palace, who will face each other this Saturday (29/3/2025), followed by Brighton & Hove Albion competing for a spot in the semifinals against Forest.

This condition places City at the top of the list of favorites to win the FA Cup trophy at Wembley Stadium this May. Moreover, City has consistently reached the final match in the last two editions. They played consecutive Manchester derbies, securing victory in the 2022-2023 season, but had to settle for taking home silver medals in the 2023-2024 season.

Reaching the FA Cup semifinals for seven consecutive editions is our target. We achieved a record last season by advancing to the semifinals for six consecutive seasons.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola firmly stated that there is no compromise for his team in continuing their journey in the FA Cup. Although they have relinquished the Premier League and faltered in the English League Cup, the dignity of The Citizens is at least upheld in the FA Cup.

"To reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the seventh time in a row is our target. We achieved a record last season by reaching the semi-finals for six seasons in a row. That shows how important this competition is for us," Guardiola said in a pre-match press conference on Friday (3/28/2025), as reported by the club's website.

Since consistently reaching the last four at Wembley in 2018-19, City have only made it to the final three times. That was in 2018-19 and the previous two seasons, 2022-23 and 2023-24. Their FA Cup titles in 2018-19 and 2022-23 were paired with the Premier League trophy, aka the double.

"We take the FA Cup seriously like we won the Carabao Cup four times in a row. The result of the FA Cup we don't know, but we have to take it seriously. Playing at Wembley will be something nice," Guardiola said.

If they can make it to the semi-finals, Guardiola and his team will surely be more confident. They have far more experience than their rivals to go through a high-pressure match at Wembley.

For Guardiola, the FA Cup is also the only hope to repeat his worst period as City manager. That was experienced by the Catalan tactician in his first season at the Etihad Stadium, 2016-2017.

After experiencing a first season without a domestic trophy as a manager, Guardiola built a dynasty at City that has won every trophy from 2017-18 until at least 2023-2024.

In his glorious and unmatched time with City, Guardiola delivered 18 championship trophies. Guardiola is undisputed as The Citizens' most successful manager in history.

The tsunami of titles that Guardiola brought is impossible to repeat by his successors later. Similar to what Sir Alex Ferguson did for City's neighbors, Manchester United.

However, that achievement was tarnished this season. They were eliminated in the Champions League knockout playoffs, thus recording their worst journey in the European club competition since 2013. Now, City is also still stuck in fifth place in the Premier League.

Guardiola even places the FA Cup far more valuable than the Club World Cup that City will participate in in June in the United States. Despite having the opportunity to take home the winner's prize of 97 million pounds (Rp 2.08 trillion), Guardiola considers the achievement in the Club World Cup is not enough to save his squad's journey this season.

"We don't deserve the bonus this season. The bonus, if we win, is more for the club. The manager, the coaching staff, the players don't deserve anything, even if it's just a watch," he said.

Former City centre-back Joleon Lescott, who played under Guardiola in the pre-Guardiola era, agreed with Guardiola, saying the collective performance of the squad was far from their standards.

"City have been very inconsistent this season. It's something that was hard to imagine," Lescott told TNT Sports.

However, Guardiola's ambition to reach a seventh successive FA Cup semi-final will not be easy. Bournemouth are the first team to beat City in the Premier League this season.

“The Cherries”, Bournemouth’s nickname, defeated City 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium on November 2. The negative result from Bournemouth was part of City’s five consecutive defeats from the end of October to November 2024.