Man City fixtures: Next six games after Sheffield United semi-final win

Manchester City’s breezy victory over Sheffield United in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final keeps the club’s ambitions of a treble alive and well – just don’t tell Pep Guardiola.

The fiercely focused Manchester City manager has been quick to quell any talk of emulating Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side which won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup during the 1998/99 campaign.

However, as City plough through opponents at an unrelenting pace, Guardiola will be faced with an increasing bombardment of questions surrounding this desperately rare feat.

Here’s what lies ahead for City in their pursuit of history.

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The tiresome trope of labelling every important match a ‘final’ has become so ingrained in modern football’s dialogue that literal semi-finals are given that unsuitable billing. Guardiola strayed into cliche when he described Arsenal’s imminent trip to the Etihad as “a final against them in the next Premier League game”.

Given Arsenal‘s recent slip-ups, City can actually afford to draw this so-called final and still defend their title if they win all of their other seven top-flight fixtures. To keep pole position in their hands, Arsenal have to become the first visiting team to win at the Etihad since the World Cup.

City have hit such a riotous vein of form in recent weeks that, for the sake of competitive balance, Guardiola’s side ought to start each match with a handicap.

However, as Fulham found out in November, that is not always enough to beat City. Joao Cancelo’s first-half red card forced Guardiola’s side to play the reverse fixture with ten men for more than an hour. Marco Silva’s visitors held their hosts to a 1-1 draw until Erling Haaland converted a stoppage-time penalty but Fulham could only muster three shots with their numerical advantage.

Guardiola’s first-ever Premier League match as a manager was against David Moyes’ Sunderland in the late summer of 2016. The revered Catalan coach needed an 87th-minute own goal from former Manchester United hopeful Paddy McNair to make a winning start to life in England’s top flight.

Moyes’ West Ham did City a favour when coming from behind to hamper Arsenal’s title tilt but, with relegation still a real threat, the veteran Scottish coach will hope to engineer another scare against Guaridola.

Originally scheduled for Sunday 7 May, Leeds United’s daunting trip to the Etihad has been shunted forward a day to compensate City’s involvement in the Champions League semi-final.

However, despite a scheduled kick-off time during England’s much-loathed TV blackout, those outside the stadium but within the United Kingdom may still be able to watch the match live. Given City’s imperious form and the recent thrashings Leeds have suffered against Crystal Palace and Liverpool, those in Yorkshire may be watching from behind the sofa.

Manchester City return to the scene of last season’s dreadfully dramatic Champions League elimination on Tuesday 9 May.

The Santiago Bernabeu will naturally hold painful memories for a team that let a two-goal advantage going into the 90th minute of the second leg slip but Real Madrid’s camp isn’t entirely enamoured with the venue either. Los Blancos manager Carlo Ancelotti was highly critical of the “problem” pitch after Madrid’s 2-0 victory over Celta Vigo in April.

As demonstrated in the semi-final against Bayern Munich, City have evolved into a side that can dominate Europe’s elite without necessarily dominating the ball. On the Bernabeu’s uncertain terrain, it may be even harder to exert a stranglehold of the tie through possession.

Sean Dyche may have arrived in the Premier League with the nickname ‘The Ginger Mourinho’ but Everton’s current boss has not been able to unsettle Guardiola anywhere near as much as his Portuguese namesake.

Dyche has lost 14 of his 15 managerial meetings with Guardiola (drawing one). The former Burnley boss has not seen his side score a goal against Manchester City in any of his last six matches – in that time, Dyche’s team conceded 19 goals.