The FA Cup final shows the contrast between Chelsea and Manchester City – but where do the clubs go from here?

It certainly doesn’t feel like the end of an era at Manchester City, as they keep winning. Rather than confirm any departures yet, Pep Guardiola just picked up another trophy. His third personal FA Cup makes it a domestic cup double, making it the second domestic treble ever.

City clearly have a lot to change in the title race, but as this 1-0 win over Chelsea showed, they continue to squeeze.

And if it was far from the final for the ages – arguably overshadowed by Mohamed Salah’s commentary on Liverpool – it was at least a one-goal win for the ages. Antoine Semenyo’s backheel was next to none in competition history.

“Great skill,” as Guardiola said.

Semenyo put the January purchase at £62.5m. There’s also a different kind of goal value, as the forward made his debut in November 2018 against Metropolitan Police FC for Newport County. He knows what it means.

from one side of the cup to the other. Such spending and the way it was the 10th consecutive final involving one of these teams – if the first team involving both – played out in a flat build-up with both clubs investigating the background. While Chelsea pleaded guilty and are still awaiting the outcome of the FA case, City insist on their innocence.

It turned out to be a genuinely good finale, though, and Chelsea might feel a little bummed about it. Even Guardiola said he felt his side had been better in 2024 and 2025, the two consecutive finals they lost. Chelsea had the better game and had a couple of penalty kicks. Of these, Abdukodeir Khasanov’s clash with Jurel Hato seemed the most likely penalty, which Callum McFarlane certainly argued after the game.

“Anywhere on the pitch, it’s a penalty.”

The interim coach actually tried to play down a particularly personal moment leading the team out to Wembley for the FA Cup final, insisting he was just focusing on the job at “Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.”

It is easy to reconcile this moment with the fact that McFarlane’s presence there was the result of a strange turn of events and curious leadership at the club, so perhaps he felt no sense of personal achievement.

How to feel about this Chelsea season? Well, it says a lot that McFarlane was asked about the possible consequences of not qualifying for Europe but simply replied, “You’re asking the interim coach.”

Would the FA Cup have even ‘saved’ the season?

It may have offered some badly needed feel-good, but it may also have sparked a debate about what it signalled, given the squad’s struggles under Liam Rosenior.

Overall, it has been a disappointing season, which continues to raise significant questions about the strategy of the football leadership.

A change of direction seems imminent. Talks with Xabi Alonso have made significant progress.

Salah’s comment – which came midway through the game – only adds urgency to the growing negativity surrounding Arne Slot at Liverpool. Are they really stationary? Are they really going to let it go without speaking to their former midfielder?

There was a time when Alonso was considered a possible candidate to replace Guardiola, but what about now?

Well, aside from the fact that the Basque is ready to sign for Chelsea, there is a feeling that Guardiola is going nowhere. Many things have changed. The mood music is that he’ll be around for another season. Guardiola, of course, avoided such talk after the game but was keen to acknowledge the departures of Bernardo Silva and John Stones.

They finally had a special moment when they lifted the FA Cup – their 15th major trophy alongside Guardiola – in front of the City fans.

If that would normally open the debate over the challenge of replacing him, the way City operate is that they are already well down that road. The team appears to be in excellent shape, and whatever the outcome of the Premier League case, it looks set for the medium-term future.

You can see why Guardiola would want to stick around. This team clearly has another title, maybe one this season, and maybe even the Champions League.

Bernardo himself talked about how he now has a “taste for trophies.”

It was summed up in the final of this cup. Cities were not at their best. They haven’t played very dominant football of late. And yet they found a way to win.

Let’s see what has happened so far in the title race. They follow that up with a very difficult away game against Bournemouth soon, on Tuesday. That’s almost the last thing you want.

However, it doesn’t look like Guardiola’s last stand in England at the moment.