Manchester City has reached the top of world football with their major achievements being-; the first English club to win an unprecedented four straight league titles, first this century to win the treble, 2023/2024 world club champions, during their remarkable success,they have reached several significant milestones that may not be replicated, this article was first created by the Sportumentary team of experts before they faced Real Madrid in the semi finals of their history defining season enjoy the insights.
Can Manchester City win the Champions league and the Treble?
Can City win the champions league? if they can it will be their first time of reaching the pinnacle of European football making them the twenty third team in Europe and the sixth from England. It is possible, but very difficult.Sportumentary will provide an in-depth analysis of what needs to be done for Pep’s team to make history.
They have made progress since their change of ownership in 2008, They have grown in leaps and bounds, very consistent and indomitable, it is now a subject of discourse on how to beat Pep’s City, only a select few has produced such excellent results, in England Manchester United comes to mind. City have taken significant steps, they are now the dominant side in Manchester finishing above United since sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, precisely ten years ago, no mean feat, they are the defending premiership champions and are poised to add another title making it 5 titles in 6 years plus an epic all Manchester Derby FA cup final in Wembley, if they win both trophies and then the champions league-the treble, they will equal United as the only English club to have achieved such feat.winning the champions league will put them firmly on top at the elite level with all entry fee paid for, the only silverware missing is this title, the most important of them all. This is what all the great sides have.It will extend England’s European record of having the most clubs with the champions league trophy from five to six, the closest is Germany,Italy and Holland with three each with Spain surprisingly sharing two with Portugal. it will tie them with a title just like Aston Villa.
All the English winners before City made it
Historical hurdle
The most significant historical hurdle which was pointed out by Sportumentary was the winner of any final between teams from the same country simply being the team with more champions league titles, a trend in victory, this challenge will not be tested this season, the major hurdle will be the glut of debut winners.
In the 1950s it was all about Real Madrid
The 1960s and 1970s had emerging champions with five each from each decade
it reached its peak with six debut winners in the 1980s and dropped to four in the 1990s
Chelsea were the only winners
Debut winners from inception
Since inception debut winners were almost winning as frequently as possible until the late 90s, Presently in the 21st century, Chelsea are the only winners. it is this obstacle that this amazing City side will need to overcome to be crowned champions
City have reduced the gap in Europe.
In England especially since the Abramovich era,a trophy laden period.it will be apt to state that Chelsea is a genuine model for City, after ending the longest title drought in history between debutant winners in 2012 which was 15 years, this is the eleventh season without a new winner.they were able to overcome the odds, they built momentum, Chelsea conquered England before turning their sights towards Europe they also have similarities in having wealthy owners. City is copying well, Chelsea has shown that a club can transform from mediocrity to champions at all levels and City domestically, for the last 20 years in England have been the most successful team and like Chelsea will take this confidence into Europe with so much expectation, so far they have been able to close the gap and this season are unbeaten in Europe and can take on the other semi-finalists starting with Real Madrid with hope and enthusiasm despite a disadvantage as regards pedigree. The blues has created a path,when Chelsea reached the champions league semi finals in 2012, they had been beaten finalist and had other semi final appearances. in that winning season, they had Spanish giants Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich all were multiple winners and prevailed. City has the same predicament Real Madrid and the Italian giants A.C. Milan and Inter Milan.
City’s chances against history is exciting, if they win the most difficult assignment in European football, defeating Real they will face high level Italian opposition either side of the city of Milan, AC,the second most successful club in this tournament or Inter another difficult side, champions league winners in 2010, the Nerazzuri went on to win the treble. in the absence of any treble winners since Bayern in 2020, Real at least are the current champions league, la Liga and copa del Rey champions even if it was not all acquired in the same season. they have all three in their possession. City cannot be short on motivation they have several trend setters as opponents.
They have been very solid and in terms of the quality of opponents played so far, they have had slightly the most difficult. it shows their adaptability.They will also require some elements of luck like Chelsea in 2012, both in the semi finals and finals, The blues had Barcelona and then Bayern Munich, both opponents missed penalties within 90 minutes, Chelsea even playing with a man down at the nou camp. City has already defeated 3 of the best German teams including Bayern in style and will take some confidence from the fact that Leipzig beaten 7-0 were the only side to inflict defeat on Real Madrid this season.
Battlefield: A breakdown of the semi finalists
In all the departments of the game Manchester City is by no means an underdog but hardened and battle ready even if they are the only side without a title. their squad experience and depth is enough for this challenge.
Goalkeeper
Ederson is the equal to Courtois,
it is true that he is second choice to Alison at Brazil but most keepers will, he has not reached the Belgian’s height at this tournament but this season may just be the right time. he has been dependable, has conceded the fewest number of goals, just four in ten games better than Courtois, Maignan and Onana. he also has an edge in ball distribution with his feet and an assist.
Defence
City have the best record of all the semi finalists and have had a dress rehearsals on what to expect from Real Madrid at last season’s enthralling semi finals and the experience will put them in good stead for this adventure, tiny margins will play a huge factor but hardly will they be regarded as greenhorns apart from the Madrid attack if they reach the finals the Italians cannot give them sleepless night on their day.
Midfield
Real Madrid from the remaining sides has a slight advantage, they still have Modric and Kroos. the greatest midfield in recent history were provided by Madrid and Milan with both the only side in the past 30 years to win at least two titles in succession but the Spanish giants are in transition between those great midfielders nearing their decline and reinforcing a new set of stars, so far the transition have been fine but weaknesses are evident.
Attack
Recent winners of the champions league have done so with very outstanding players giving them an edge, Messi for Barca, Ronaldo for Manchester United and Real Madrid, Lewandowski for Bayern and now Benzema for Real Madrid and even Vinicius. City have been able to optimize the young and deadly Norwegian, Haaland, the best striker in the world, the current highest goalscorer in the champions league and in England in fact, his debut season has produced more than 50 goals. He will give them that extra dimension to unlock and unsettle teams trying to stretch themselves. again both City and Real are superior in this department.
Coach Pep against the Italians.
Pep’s rival coaches with the exception of Ancelotti are relatively inexperienced, Pioli like Pep and Ancelotti won the champions league as a player, Simone Inzaghi like City is searching for a title, but all four as players have won the European super cup. As manager Pep’s most difficult challenge is against Ancelotti, both have won this tournament a multiple times, in Europe the Italian has gotten the better of him at crucial stages of the champions league. Pep managed to get his first win against him in the semi final of last season’s first leg encounter winning 4-3, failing to capitalize and finishing them off, he had several two goal lead advantage in the match an opportune time to put the game to bed, he also blew another chance in the second leg despite leading by a lone goal scored in the 73rd minute, even in the 89th minute they still had a two goal lead. they imploded and lost in extra time. in their first European meeting also in a semi final with Pep at Bayern, they lost both matches, in the return duel in Germany trailing by a lone goal from the first leg City conceded four unreplied goals. notably, in both losses Ancelotti went on to win the champions league with Real Madrid. Pep can be able to glean from this painful lessons unlike when he won against Ancelotti when the Italian was in Everton, in all the European encounters which includes this third semi finals meeting, the quality of both sides is very high and similar, so Pep has to get his tactics spot on and anticipate a relentless surge of offensive play if City have the lead. composure more than anything is needed. if they cannot defeat the Italian then he should forget about another Italian assignment and the dream will have to wait for another season but the treble may not be possible so soon.
