Pep Guardiola aims for stadium stand as he relishes another trip to ‘special place’ Wembley
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has won the FA Cup twice, in 2019 and 2023, and a third triumph in the competition would seal his 20th trophy since arriving a decade ago.
PHOTO: AFP
- Manchester City, led by Pep Guardiola, face Chelsea in the FA Cup final, aiming for a record fourth successive appearance win and Guardiola's 20th trophy.
- Chelsea, under interim boss Calum McFarlane, hope to end an eight-year domestic trophy drought after a traumatic season and recent poor league form.
- The final pits Guardiola's vast experience against novice interim boss McFarlane, highlighting their contrasting situations and implications for both clubs.
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LONDON – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola joked that it is time that English football erects a stand for him at Wembley, as he looked ahead to the FA Cup final against Chelsea on May 16.
Guardiola’s side are embroiled in a last-ditch bid to catch English Premier League leaders Arsenal, but their slender title hopes will be on hold this weekend as they head to Wembley in search of a Cup double.
City, who beat Arsenal in the League Cup final in March, had to play Crystal Palace in the Premier League on May 13. They will be back in top-flight action again just three days after facing Chelsea when they head to Bournemouth.
The schedule is tight and Guardiola made six changes for a 3-0 win against Palace that left them two points behind Arsenal with two games left. He hopes his efforts pay off for this title clash at a “special place”.
City are appearing in the FA Cup final for a record fourth successive season, but they lost the last two, against Crystal Palace in 2025 and Manchester United in 2024.
Regarding that, he said on May 15: “It’s (another final) exciting! Hopefully, we can do better than the last two times.
“(We have) new players and it (past defeats) is forgotten.
“One-off game against Chelsea in another final and we have to try and win the trophy.
“The message is clear how we have to move and run to beat Chelsea. The message is there are two prestigious clubs... The season has been good, really, really good.”
Guardiola has won the FA Cup twice, in 2019 and 2023, and a third triumph in the competition would seal his 20th trophy since arriving at City a decade ago.
But uncertainty has swirled around his future all season and, with just one year left on his contract, he is yet to give an indication if he plans to stay or go at the end of this term.
For now, the 55-year-old is looking forward to one more trip to Wembley.
“I’m so disappointed in English football for not making (renaming) a stand for Pep... Many times I’ve been there, so at least a lounge, or a box, or something like that,” he joked. “Maybe I’ll go 24 more times. It’s been a special place. I have been many times here. We win, lose, win.
“It is really good. The pitch is extraordinary and hopefully it will be a nice day, hopefully we perform well. They play very well... They are incredibly aggressive.”
On the relentless run of fixtures at this very tail end of the season, he added: “It is what it is. It is not ideal but the big clubs, when you are in difficult circumstances, you have to do extra.”
Guardiola’s glittering array of trophies and vast experience are a stark contrast to Chelsea’s novice interim boss Calum McFarlane.
McFarlane took over following Liam Rosenior’s sacking in April after just 106 days in charge.
The former Chelsea Under-21 coach finds himself in the extraordinary position of leading the Blues in the FA Cup final with no realistic prospect of landing the job on a full-time basis.
It is the second time McFarlane has been in interim charge this season. After Enzo Maresca’s exit in January, he damaged City’s title challenge in a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Chelsea are without a win in their last seven league games, a dismal streak that has left them with virtually no chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
Winning the FA Cup for the first time since 2018 – in the process ending eight years without a domestic trophy – would only partially salve the wounds of such a traumatic campaign.
“Our recent form in the league has been way below the standard we’d expect and that we’d shown previously. (But now) it’s an FA Cup final, so we want to win it,” McFarlane said.
“It’s a massive competition. When you’re at a club of this magnitude... the history that this club has got in this competition and winning silverware, there’s always pressure. You have to accept that and embrace that.
“I have managed a few games at this level, not of this magnitude of course, but I will try and stay as level as possible and the process will stay the same.” AFP, REUTERS
