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The last three months have been surreal for Manchester City and their fans, who have watched their club break numerous records.
Pep Guardiola and his side finally got their reward for years of dominance by winning the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League.
Even better, the Cityzens also matched rivals Manchester United’s three-peat of league titles. As immortalised as the names of these players and their manager are in Manchester City’s history, there’s still more they can achieve together.
On Wednesday, Manchester City will attempt to annex their latest trophy when they take on Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece.
A first Super Cup up for grabs for City
On paper, this looks like a David vs Goliath affair, but Sevilla have mastered the art of causing upsets and that is why the European champions cannot afford to leave anything to chance.
Manchester City have already missed out on one trophy this season after losing on penalties to Arsenal in the FA Community Shield a fortnight ago, and now they need to make amends.
The Super Cup game has additional importance because it’s a trophy the club has never won before in their history.
As a manager, Guardiola has already won the Super Cup with both Barcelona and Bayern and it’ll be special to win it again with Manchester City, which would mean he’s won the trophy at every club he’s coached.
However, the Cityzens will have to do it without influential midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, who limped off in their opening Premier League game against Burnley last Friday.
Cityzens have a chance to build European legacy
Manchester City have already lost the chance to win the sextuple after missing out on the Community Shield, but the chance to build a proper European legacy is still in the offing.
By beating Sevilla, the Cityzens will join an elite list of clubs that have won both the Champions League and the Super Cup and that is a record that even rivals Manchester United cannot boast of.
“We always are hungry to win every trophy. When we lost to Arsenal we didn’t want to lose. The way we came back vs Burnley shows the hunger. You cannot leave finals to chance. The same desire to have the best chance,” Guardiola said ahead of the game, as quoted by Manchester Evening News.
He added:
“This year we can break some records. It's not so important, winning four PLs in a row or 5/6 titles in a season would be massive. Every title is important. This Super Cup was my first trophy as a player, I know how tough it is to win it. We have another chance to put City on the European map again.”
Manchester City were so good last season that they were unstoppable both domestically and in Europe. But it remains to be seen whether they have the same hunger and desire as they will be tested by Sevilla, a club that has made it a habit of upsetting the odds on European nights like this.
