Man City players looking forlorn
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Final Defeats Leave Manchester Giants Trophyless

It has long been apparent that 2024/25 was going to be a season to forget for both the red and blue halves of Manchester’s footballing community. However, after Manchester City’s surprise (surprise-not-surprise) defeat in the FA Cup final, and Manchester United’s equally not-unexpected shock in the Europa League, both Manchester giants will now end the campaign without a major trophy (although City could win the Club World Cup, and they did win the Community Shielf against United, albeit on penalties).

As Pep said, winning the FA Cup would not have changed the fact that it had been a poor season. Equally nobody at United would have got too carried away had they beat Spurs, though the massive increase in income the Champions League would have brought would certainly have been most welcome. But now, with the dust just about settled, we can reflect on what has been a disastrous year for both.

Both Clubs Fail to Land a Trophy


If we discount the Club World Cup (which technically takes place in the close season anyway) and the Community Shield (which isn’t a proper competition!), this will be City’s first season without a trophy since 2016/17, when they finished third in the league and made the semis of the FA Cup. The Red Devils have had many campaigns without silverware since then, but in that particular season, they lifted both the League Cup and the Europa League. We have to go back a little further, to the second post-Sir Alex Ferguson campaign, to find the last time that neither of the Manchester giants lifted any sort of trophy.

That came in 2014/5 when United were poor in the domestic cups, finished fourth in the league and hadn’t even qualified for European competition. As for City, this was well before the Pep era, with Manuel Pellegrini in charge at the Etihad. The Cityzens had won the Premier League title 12 months earlier, as well as their first of six League Cups in an incredible eight-year spell in that competition.

Pellegrini’s men came close to defending their title and finished second, with Chelsea crowned champions. Like United, they were sub-par in the FA Cup and League Cup, and exited the Champions League in the last 16, which was very typical for them in those days.

With City’s recent dominance and that of United for 25 years before that, campaigns such as 2014/15 and this current one have been very rare since the 1990s. Few would be too confident in predicting that United will improve dramatically next season, but their cross-city rivals will hope for much better in 2025/26. With Rodri back from injury and Guardiola likely to make big changes to his squad (and possibly tactics), they should return as a force to be reckoned with. That said, losing Kevin De Bruyne will hurt and they still have a number of issues to contend with.

Eagles Soar as City Season Doomed


Much has been written about what went wrong for Guardiola and co this season so we will not go into much detail here about that. The loss of Rodri was huge, with a few bad results subsequently leading to a dramatic loss of confidence. The ageing squad and evolution of Premier League tactics, perhaps leaving City’s possession- and position-based approach behind, were also factors.

But despite their shocking implosion they still had a chance to claim the FA Cup. More than a chance in fact, with City heading into the Wembley final against Palace as huge favourites. The Eagles, after all, had never won anything of real note, never having managed to claim glory in the top flight, FA Cup, or League Cup.

That all changed on the 17th of May 2025, a date that is now of huge importance in the overarching history of Palace. Oliver Glasner’s men had been superb in both the league and the FA Cup after a dreadful start to the season back in the summer and autumn. They made it through to the final by beating Fulham 3-0 in the quarters and then outclassing Villa by the same score in the semis.

Even so, against the might of City, they were fully expected to be found out. At least by some. Others took the view that ignoring the first nine league games of the season, when City took 23 points and Palace just six, there really wasn’t much between these two teams.

It certainly looked that way at Wembley, with City, as has so often been the case, struggling to create all that much and being hit on the counter. Palace executed their plan perfectly and after just 16 minutes they took the lead in fine style. A quick break saw them easily beat the press before releasing the excellent Daniel Munoz down the right. He crossed and the equally superb Eberechi Eze swept home a volley.

There was controversy just minutes later when Dean Henderson could easily have seen red for a handball outside the area which many felt denied an obvious scoring chance. The ref and VAR disagreed though and to make matters even worse, Henderson saved a penalty 13 minutes later. It was soft anyway, with Bernardo Silva rather buying it but even so, City fans will feel aggrieved.

Pep’s troops kept knocking on the door but they couldn’t find a way past the excellent Henderson, who was superb. They had the better of possession (78%), xG (2.23 versus 0.74) and just about every other metric… apart from the crucial one. Palace held on for a famous victory and City must look to next season.

United Also Have Nought But Next Season


If there is any consolation for City it is that rivals Man United also lost their final, going down 1-0 to Spurs in the Europa League showpiece. Both Manchester clubs can probably feel a little unlucky as United too had the better of the game. Spurs managed just three shots in the whole match, with just one – the goal – on target. And even that looked suspiciously like an own goal, with doubts over whether credited scorer Brennan Johnson made any contact.

It was billed as the worst Europa League final ever, given the league placings of the two teams, with Spurs 17th and United 16th coming into the match. And it lived up to that unwanted status, being a poor, scrappy game with few moments of skill or brilliance.

What happens to the two managers remains to be seen, with Ruben Amorim’s position thought to be safe, whilst his conqueror’s job might not be. It’s a funny old game. Another terrible campaign for United and the rebuild looks as big a job as ever. Whether Amorim is the man to see it through is questionable but the glory days of the Ferguson reign further fade into history.

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