Manchester City, recent champion of the Premier League and with world champion Julián Alvarez, and Manchester United, without the injured Lisandro Martínez and with Alejandro Garnacho, will play the final of the 142nd this Saturday. edition of the FA Cup, the oldest soccer tournament in the world that began to be played in the 1871/1872 season. The match will be played from 11 a.m. (Argentine time) at the mythical Wembley Stadium, in London, with the refereeing of Paul Tierney and televised by ESPN and Star +. In the event that the final ends even at the end of the 90 minutes, an additional 30 minutes will be played and if the tie remains, the champion will be determined in a series of penalties.
Manchester City, guided by the notable Catalan coach Pep Guardiola, takes this final as an objective to reach the incredible “Triple Crown”, made up of the Premier (he already won it), the FA Cup and the Champions League that will be defined against the Inter Italiano on June 10 in Istanbul.
City has what it takes to win the remaining two titles as it is probably the team that plays best football in the world. Figures in all lines, unlimited offensive variants with the Belgian Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, the Portuguese Bernado Silva, the German Ilkay Gundogan, a level of hierarchy so high that they even be on the bench Phill Foden and the Algerian Riyaf Mahrez.
City’s outstanding scorer Erling Haaland, top scorer in the Premier with 36 goals and current leader of the Champions League with 12 conquests, remains as the highest point for City.
For all of the above and the rest, including the least defeated defense of the Premier, where the Portuguese Rubén Días and Kyle Walker stand out, with 33 goals in 38 games, like that of Newcastle, City is a clear favorite for the appointment Londoner.
But, the finals have to be played and no one is a champion before their time. Manchester United, under the tactical direction of the Dutchman Erik ten Hag, was third in the Premier after 14 united from City, qualifying for the next Champions League, being left out this year in the semifinals of the Europa League against the champion , Seville of Spain.
United has striker Marcus Rashford, sixth scorer in the Premier League with 17 goals, will not have the figure of Martínez in defense, who underwent surgery for a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot, but has Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea, of a high level despite the fact that he is prone to making costly mistakes, a stony defender like Harry Maguire,
The midfield stands out with the Brazilian Casemiro, a player of notable conditions, and the Portuguese Bruno Fernández, while the Spanish-Argentine Garnacho, called up by Lionel Scaloni for the next tour of Asia, is the imbalance quota with virtues such as ability and speed that United has to break the opponent’s schemes.
On the way to the final, City eliminated Chelsea, Arsenal, Bristol City, Brunley and Sheffield United, while United left Everton, Reading, West Ham, Fulham and Brighton And Hove on the way.
In the history of the FA Cup they have played eight times, five wins for United and three for City, which beat its “neighbor” two semi-finals in 1925/26 3-0 and in 2010/11 1-0. In addition, Arsenal is the most winner of the FA Cup with 14 titles, followed by Manchester United with 12, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham with 8, Aston Villa 7 and Manchester City 6.
Probable formations
Manchester City: Ederson; Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, and Kyle Walker; Rodri Hernández, Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, John Stones and Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva. DT: Pep Guardiola.
Man Utd: David De Gea; Wan Bissaka, Raphale Varane, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw; Casemiro, Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes; Marcus Forwards, Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho. DT: Erik ten Hag
Stadium: Wembley.
Referee: Paul Tierney.
Hour: 11:00 (Argentina).
TV: ESPN and Star+.