The ‘giant’ is also shaking

Manchester City’s trip to Wembley, to play the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea tomorrow, will have an unexpected emotional overload. The way they crashed out of the Champions League, with some characteristics of impotence and after a fruitless draw after dominating the entire match against Real Madrid, tarnished what had until now been the incomparable image of the European and English champion. He couldn’t score the second goal that would have qualified him, and he slumped, unexpectedly, later to the fate of penalties. The giant, in the moment of truth, trembled.

The city of Guardiola His unshakable confidence was shaken. He hesitated, and opened a crack of insecurity never seen before, with unexpected nervousness, that the group of Carlo Ancelotti. It’s great that they are joined by one of the best players of the mighty ‘skyblues’, Bernard Silva. As an image of City’s mental strength, the Portuguese this time made a mistake in his decision on his penalty shot, by throwing it in the middle ‘in Panenka‘, thus increasing the risks of failure. The doorman guessed his intentions. Silvaa player who almost always chooses carefully what to do at any given time, expressed the concern of a City who, especially at the Etihad in Manchester, have shown themselves to be infallible for 41 games.

With the emotional impact of that painful defeat in front of their fans, the players of Guardiola They have to overcome this and face tomorrow’s game at Wembley, against an unpredictable Chelsea, who have found a way to overcome their doubts to win the game. This is the path Madrid have pointed to all of City’s rivals. A way to fight them with a closed defense without leaving any space, to make them desperate. Haaland, De Bruyne, Foden and Silva, the four stilettos in front of it. For Pochettino and Chelsea will, without a doubt, be one of the means to use for their hopes of success in London.

There is no objective dominance

“We faced a lot of closed teams and we always found a way to find a gap, today we missed it,” he reflected. Guardiola after the match against Madrid, added an expressive “No regrets”, directed at the English press. But it was a warning sign for the ‘skyblues’, the same activated for Arsenal in Munich, in their unsuccessful dominance. His control of the match also did not translate into goals at the Allianz Arena, where Bayern imposed their experience in the competition and waited to surprise him on the counterattack. In the end, the result was good and saw the Gunners eliminated in their return to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after 14 years.

How they both recover emotionally will decide the end of the season. City are favorites for their two remaining titles, and to make it four consecutive English league titles, although just two points separate them from Arsenal and Liverpool. There is a lot of tension and parity, which, along with the fatigue of the most important players, portends a final month of twists and turns in the standings. To start, the Gunners must also show resilience in their trip to Wolverhampton on Saturday, at a ground, Molineux, where City have already lost this season. ”The locker room has been destroyed and the pain will never go away. But what we still have left to play is beautiful,” he encourages. Arteta to his players, where he is trying to relieve the pressure of trying to win the title the north London club has been fighting for since 2004.

How they deal with the physical fatigue and tension after the matches in Europe will carry weight and will be one of the keys to the outcome of the rest of the season. To begin with, the biggest source of concern for the City is the form of Erling Haaland, their feared scorer, fell into an unusual negative streak. Guardiola justified his change against Madrid by arguing that the striker had requested it, before the penalty shoot-out, even though he knew his team would need him. But at the crucial moment of the year, the Norwegian was not there and his pitch was not taken. Haaland He scored 30 goals in 37 games, but he was far from the fantastic figures of last season. The team sees less of him, and that casts a shadow over City’s attacking performance. Luck was not on his side either. Just look at his shot against the crossbar of the goal Lunawhich would have served to eliminate Real Madrid.

The fog of 115 charges

And amid all the strife, there is internal tension. Although he did not make it to the locker room, the award-winning Manchester club is awaiting a decision by the Premier’s independent commission to resolve the 115 charges it faces for breaching financial rules over nine different seasons. In view of what happened at Everton and Nottingham Forest, if they are found guilty of at least some of them, the deduction of points is an inevitable consequence. City officials argue that this is impossible, vehemently denying the allegations and working hard to prove their innocence. But the cloud of that possible punishment is spreading over the horizon facing the club.

At Wembley you will see the mighty City tired and weary. The victory alone was enough to erase the stain of the injured champion, who dreamed of extending his dominance in the Champions League. Troubled Chelsea will strain their nerves and put them to the test in the FA Cup And see that the London Blues, playing all or nothing, are capable of anything.