Manchester, a city in the north of England, has a proud football (soccer) tradition. There are two professional teams based in the city. Manchester United Football Club is commonly referred to as Man United, or just United. United's nickname is the Red Devils and they were founded in 1878. In 1880, Manchester City Football Club was founded. They are referred to as Man City, or just City. I've written about these two teams before, for good reason. Last year Man City won the "continental treble" - the English Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League final. The only other English team to have achieved that are their local rivals, Man United.
Collectively as a unit, Manchester's two teams have won more trophies than any other city in England. United have won the premier league 20 times, versus City's 9 times. They also, respectively, have 12 and 7 FA Cups, 6 and 8 League Cups, and 3 and 1 UEFA Champions League titles. So United have the edge in titles, but City is definitely the best team over the last decade. City has won the Premier League 7 times out of the last 13 seasons. And last season City got the "European treble" after they won the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League title. Man United did the same in 1999. United must be desperate to recapture their old form and depose their upstart rivals of their current crown. For over one hundred years United were the dominant side in Manchester.
But United have not won the league for a while. Their most recent dynasty was under the leadership of a manager named Alex Ferguson, now known as Sir Alex Ferguson, after he got knighted for his services to football. Sir Alex had an incredible long-lasting impact at Manchester United during his illustrious reign at Old Trafford from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of top-flight soccer. The legendary Scotsman lifted 13 Premier League titles with the Red Devils, including leading United to that iconic continental treble in 1999. Alex Ferguson is actually renowned as one of the greatest leaders of all time, not just in sports, but in any endeavor. His story is taught at business schools in the US as one of the greatest examples of how to successfully lead a team. So, it is hard not to compare his record against that of his younger counterpart at City, Pep Guardiola.
Spaniard Guardiola has been at the helm at City since 2016. Prior to that he coached Bayern Munich in Germany and before that Barcelona. He has achieved phenomenal success as a manager. Pep is still the only manager to win the continental treble twice, the youngest to win the UEFA Champions League, and he also holds the records for the most consecutive league games won, not just in La Liga where he started, but also in the Bundesliga, and now in the English Premier League too. So, he has already achieved many things Sir Alex never did.
Pep's quest continues tomorrow, and, as fate would have it, the next two trophies lie in the hands of City's biggest rivals, Man United. Reason being, tomorrow on Sunday May 12th, United have a regular season Premier League game against Arsenal. Arsenal is currently second in the points standings behind Man City. So, United control Pep and City's immediate fate. If United were to beat Arsenal tomorrow that would pretty much gift the league season to City based on the points standings. Arsenal are two points behind with two matches each left, so if they lose they won't catch up.
City conclude their season with games against Tottenham and West Ham on Tuesday and Sunday respectively. They are favored to win both of those matches. If City do win the league it will give Pep Guardiola something Sir Alex Ferguson, nor any other Premier League manager, has ever attained - four successive English Premier League titles. That would be a remarkable accomplishment for Pep and his team. In fact, the dressing room wall at City's home training ground has had a sign hanging on it all season. It succinctly says: "Nobody has won four Premier League trophies in a row... yet". Well, the sign worked, because City are about to achieve exactly that.
As if that prospect is not enough reason to get excited about the upcoming end-of-season matches, in two weeks from now on Saturday May 25th the FA Cup Finals will kick off in London's iconic Wembley Stadium. The two teams on the field will be the same teams that played each other in last year's Cup final at Wembley - you guessed it - City and United.
The weight of history, the coaching legacies, and the continuing rivalry between these two teams will just add to all the drama of the event.