For Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, a year they hope to quickly forget will end at Wembley this weekend.
It was at Wembley a year ago, in the 1-2 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup final, that Guardiola saw the first signs of decline. At the time, he thought the surprise result was due to his own tactical mistakes.
However, what looked like an isolated incident has since become City's worst season in nearly a decade.
Guardiola and his players will return to Wembley to face Crystal Palace in another FA Cup final. And just as the defeat to Man United caused a serious decline, many people hoped that raising a trophy could arouse Man City.
"It's been a difficult season. It's not good to lose too much, it's boring and not fun. That is why we need to end the season with a title. Coming to Wembley is a good habit and winning trophies is always important" - Erling Haaland said.
Guardiola has made it clear that defeating Palace will not save Man City's season. However, this could create motivation for them ahead of the 2025-2026 campaign and the battle to regain the Premier League title from Liverpool.
Guardiola faces many questions about the players' motivation after winning the treble in 2023. Perhaps the hunger is gradually fading away, surprising the Spaniard. Guardiola has not wanted to say too much about it this season, instead giving other reasons, such as serious injuries and his own failures.
Injuries to key players like Rodri have had a clear impact. In addition to the Spanish midfielder, a squad of players such as Ederson, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku and Haaland have all been absent for at least nine games. In Rodri's case, it has been 7 months since then.
Guardiola admitted that he has overrated the ability to maintain the form of older stars such as Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Gundogan, Ederson and De Bruyne.
Julian Alvarez, an active winger, has arrived at Atletico Madrid and has not been replaced. Phil Foden - the best player in the Premier League last season - has returned from EURO 2024 in a tired state and has not yet regained his rhythm. The match against Southampton last weekend was Foden's first in more than a month.
"If you look at the number of players who have been here for 4, 5 or 6 years, in terms of goals and assists, this year the decline is incredible. That's why we're struggling to win games," Guardiola admitted.
Guardiola has hinted at his over-confidence in older players. Young players like Nico O'Reilly and James McAtee have been given more responsibility in recent weeks, and this coincides with better performances by the whole team.
A change in Guardiola's tactics has made an impact. The formation with two deep-lying midfielders and two wingers has helped Man City control better in matches. That is something they have lacked since Rodri's injury in September last year.
The Citizens' players showed their desire to return in each run - which once created their success cycle. Gundogan told ESPN in April that he had seen a change in his spirit since the hard-fought win over Bournemouth in the FA Cup at the end of March. And Man City have not lost since then.
Despite a 10-match unbeaten streak, Guardiola will have to be wary of Palace. Oliver Glasner's side played brilliantly in the FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa, and last month they also drew with Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and beat Tottenham.
Eberechi Eze, who has been closely watched by Man City in the past, has scored 8 goals in the last 11 matches for club and country.
Glasner, Eze and Palace will travel to Wembley confident that they can cause another disastrous defeat for The Citizens. For Guardiola and his players, this is an opportunity to take another step forward on the path to finding themselves.
