Bidding to quickly banish their latest Wembley heartache, Manchester City play their final home game of the season on Tuesday night, when Bournemouth rock up for a Premier League battle.
Pep Guardiola and co are mourning their FA Cup dreams after Saturday’s 1-0 loss at the hands of Crystal Palace, while the Cherries are still in with a slight shout of qualifying for the Conference League.
Victims of an “absolutely pathetic” decision in the eyes of Ian Wright, Man City were left to bemoan both their own wastefulness and VAR controversy going against them in the English capital, where Palace celebrated a maiden major honour under the Wembley arch.
From Eberechi Eze’s sumptuous strike, to Dean Henderson’s penalty save from Omar Marmoush and contentious handball moment – where the Palace goalkeeper avoided taking the walk of shame for seemingly blatantly swiping the ball away from Erling Haaland’s feet outside the box – a chaotic first half of Saturday’s FA Cup final preceded a low-key second which suited the Eagles to the ground.
As the post-mortem into Saturday’s agonising 1-0 loss continues, Man City will end the 2024-25 campaign having only added another Community Shield to their cabinet, another telltale sign that the first Guardiola glory days are coming to a natural, but inevitable end.
The dethroned Premier League champions’ campaign could still end even more disastrously should they miss out on a top-five finish, but as they are just one point behind Aston Villa and Chelsea with a game in hand on both – and a better goal difference – their Champions League destiny remains in their own hands.
Last weekend’s similarly excruciating goalless draw with Southampton did the Sky Blues no favours, but Guardiola’s charges can at least proudly show off four wins from their last four Premier League matches at the Etihad, and they have prevailed in each of their last eight final home games of the season.
Those in red and black as well as sky blue ought to have been donning their Man City scarves for the FA Cup final, as had City come up trumps against Palace while qualifying for the Champions League, eighth place would have definitely sufficed for Conference League qualification.
However, there is one scenario where Bournemouth could still sneak into the third tier of European football; if Chelsea beat Real Betis in this year’s Conference League final but also finish seventh, or the Blues finish sixth and Newcastle United in seventh, eighth will provide a path to the CL.
The Cherries could therefore still bring European nights to the South Coast, although a meagre three wins from their last 13 games is hardly continent-worthy form, and last weekend’s painful 1-0 home loss to 10-man Aston Villa officially took them out of top-seven contention.
Andoni Iraola’s side also still need Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion to slip up somewhere in their final two games if they are to earn their European stars, but ahead of what would normally be a daunting trip to the Etihad, the Cherries losing just one of their last 13 away matches offers a crumb of comfort.
Taking down Man City 2-1 at home in November will provide another slice of encouragement, but Guardiola’s men gained revenge by the same scoreline in the FA Cup quarter-finals and boast a 100% winning record against Bournemouth in Premier League home games, triumphing seven times out of seven.
