Manchester City have celebrated the FA Cup in open-top bus parades the last three times they have won the competition but are unlikely to this year
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Manchester City fans celebrate their FA Cup semi-final win at Wembley
(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
Manchester City are unlikely to hold a parade if they win the FA Cup amid the busy schedule ahead of their players. Pep Guardiola and his squad are intent on adding another trophy to their collection on Saturday at Wembley but such a victory isn't expected to be celebrated with an event in the city.
City have celebrated their three FA Cup victories in the modern era with a parade, albeit those have each had their own circumstances. In 2011 the club were celebrating their first major trophy in 35 years and the first under the new ownership, while the 2019 and 2023 wins were incorporated into marking a domestic quadruple and the Treble respectively.
Guardiola has declared this season - where the team have struggled badly in the Premier League and Champions League - as 'awful' and said that an FA Cup victory and qualification for the Champions League would not be enough to make it successful. On the eve of the FA Cup final, Guardiola voiced his unhappiness that they had not been given an extra day of rest to prepare for their Premier League game against Bournemouth.
That will take the attention of the squad once the cup final is over as the players prepare for two games in a week that will determine whether they will play in the Champions League or Europa League next season. A top-five finish is within their grasp, but it is certainly not guaranteed ahead of two tough fixtures against two teams who are also chasing European football in Bournemouth and Fulham.
The outcome in the Premier League will be seen as more important than the FA Cup to City in terms of next season, and will certainly be the priority next week. And while that marks the end of the traditional campaign, City's players will barely have a rest.
They will regroup in Manchester in less than a month to fly out to the Untied States for the Club World Cup, and before that many will head off for international duty with their countries. With the schedule threatening to damage City's chances of success next season before it has even begun, Guardiola has been keen for his players to take as much time off as they possibly can.
"What is coming is a bit mad so we obviously take the build-up we have into it, even though you have these midweeks you're still focused, you're not really letting your mind breathe because you're still in competition and have the targets you have," explained defender Ruben Dias.
"We'll try and do as much breathing in our minds when the time comes before the international break because then you don't stop."
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