LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 27: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City celebrates after the Emirates FA Cup Semi Final match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on April 27, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Image credit: Getty Images
Despite a difficult season, Manchester City will be firm favourites when they take on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola's side head to Wembley with a chance to rejuvenate a disappointing campaign that has seen them relinquish their Premier League title to new champions Liverpool.
Victory in north London and a strong finish to the Premier League season - they have two games remaining, against Bournemouth and Fulham - will see them end the 2024-25 campaign with a UEFA Champions League place and a trophy.
That would be a significant achievement considering their awful run of one win in 13 games between October and December 2024.
City know what it takes to get the job done in domestic cup finals, and they have the trophy cabinet to prove it.
Ahead of Saturday's FA Cup final, we felt the time was right to look back at Guardiola's domestic cup final record since arriving at The Etihad in 2016.
FA Cup
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Manchester City have reached the FA Cup final three times since Guardiola took over.
Guardiola admits Man City ‘missed a good opportunity’ by failing to beat Southampton
Video credit: SNTV
He has guided his side to victory on two of those occasions, with the first coming during the 2018–19 season. City cruised to victory on the day, beating Watford 6-0, the success being part of a domestic cup treble.
Their second FA Cup final triumph came in 2023 when they dispatched local rivals Manchester United 2-1. That was part of a famous Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble for City, as they matched the achievement of United from 1999.
However, they could not claim back-to-back crowns last season, losing to The Red Devils by the same scoreline at Wembley. Erik ten Hag's United claimed a notable victory, ending City's hopes of a domestic league and cup double.
Carabao Cup
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Guardiola's City sides also have a formidable record in Carabao Cup finals. He inspired the club to four final victories in a row between 2018 and 2021.
His first triumph came in 2018 when City stormed to a 3-0 win over Arsenal, thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva.
They followed that up by beating Chelsea on penalties in 2019, before defeating Aston Villa 2-1 in the 2020 final.
Their most recent Carabao Cup final appearance came in 2021, with City beating Tottenham 1-0.
That leaves Guardiola with a tremendous record of six wins from seven domestic cup finals in English football.
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