Manchester City Can Have a Great Season Despite Title Defence Collapse

It was certainly disappointing to see Liverpool dethrone Manchester City and become new Premier League champions. But City’s season won’t be defined by the league title if things go as planned for the remainder of the campaign. The team remains upbeat that a lot can still happen before the campaign is over.

Having already claimed the Carabao Cup in March, the players have set their sights on the remaining trophies on offer.

Kevin De Bruyne made it clear after the disappointing loss to Chelsea that officially confirmed Liverpool as champions that Manchester City can still have a great season.

“We knew it was impossible [to catch them after lockdown],” he stated.

“You are always disappointed when you don’t win, but I think we are honest enough to say Liverpool were better this year.

“I think we worked really hard, we played really well but we weren’t good enough and that’s no problem for us to admit.

“If everything goes to plan for us then I think we still have 13 or 14 games, so we still have a lot to play for and a lot of objectives.”

Having won a domestic treble last season, the team still has an opportunity to surpass that achievement by emerging champions on the continent. Both the Champions League and the FA Cup are still up for grabs. With performances like the one seen against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium, there is reason to be hopeful of great things.

Raheem Sterling has reiterated the same point through Manchester City’s website.

“Hopefully, we can finish with an FA Cup final and a Champions League final,” the forward stated.

“We are a team that missed out on the Premier League and we have got to go on and try to do our best as we can in all competitions and that is the FA Cup and the Champions League.

“It is difficult seeing Liverpool take the title from us, but they have been brilliant all year.

“On Thursday, it was just another game, but it was a chance to finish high. In the Premier League we need to win all our games and finish on a high in the FA Cup and the Champions League.”

A semi-final pairing with Arsenal places City as strong favourites to advance to the FA Cup final. From there, anything is possible. But perhaps, the biggest challenge will come in the Champions League. Despite holding a 2-1 advantage over Real Madrid from the first leg of the Round of 16, getting past the most successful team in the tournament will require a top-class performance from City.

The Spanish giants are currently in red-hot form. They have not failed to win a single game since the restart after the coronavirus-enforced break. Zinedine Zidane’s men are now on course to beat Barcelona to La Liga title.

The games against Chelsea and Liverpool showed two sides of City. Progressing in the Champions League will depend on which City team turns up on the day against Madrid.

Hopefully, the determination from the players will spur them to not only reach the quarter-final but go all the way and bring home the coveted prize.