Pep Guardiola’s expensively assembled Manchester City side have again had their struggles in the 2023/24 domestic Premier League campaign, but they are determined to repeat their treble achievements of last year, and they more than remain in the hunt to do just that as we come out of the first week of the month of March.
We say City are struggling because they have a four goal worst goal difference to table toppers Liverpool and they have lost one game more than Jurgen Klopp’s side, but they are only a single point behind them with identical wins, and it is not the first time City have staged a final day super show to grab themselves a title.
FA Cup hopes remain alive after late February’s 6-2 victory over Luton Town and it is Newcastle United up next, and they will again be confident of taking victory on home soil there.
In terms of Champions League success, Wednesday evening saw City take a second leg, Round of 16, victory over opponents FC Copenhagen with a 3-1 scoreline that gave them an aggregate 6-2 win over both legs – so they more than seem to be fully on track there and that was what their gaffer was focused on.
Having taken a two goal lead through Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez in side of the opening ten minutes of the first half, Copenhagen did claw one back, but after his recent criticism Erling Haaland again found the net on the stroke of half time to secure their progression, and many will believe this was the perfect preparation for their next Premier League battle which happens to come against Liverpool themselves.
Many will describe it as a statement win as Guardiola made seven changes from the side that beat local rivals Manchester City in their last fixture, and few would have noticed it in their game play.
For the Spaniard, it simply showed that they ‘are a team that believes we can do it’ and their optimism of a successive Treble sweep of trophies seems unabated.
Especially in European terms, that optimism is well founded as City have now made the quarter finals for the seventh successive year, and have become the first English club to win ten straight matches in the competition, and that stat is even more impressive when you consider the first team changes.
A historic double Treble is on the cards, but with potential ties against either Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid to come, the future challenge is different level again and that is their next battle.