Even after a difficult season, Manchester City are still trying to achieve something positive. fourth in the Premier League table, Man City have four more games to qualify for next season's Champions League.
After beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 at Wembley, they could still win another trophy when they face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final next month.
While Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham have all gone through truly disastrous campaigns, The Citizens can still secure two important goals.
The problem is that Pep Guardiola and his players have not even had a bad season like the other teams.
"Absolutely not. This is not a good season. Man City used to be a winning machine, but this year it is not. The losses have eased with the FA Cup final, but we will not be confused that this season has been good. The club need to make the right decisions to make next season better," said Guardiola after the win over Nottingham.
Just looking through the list of players at Wembley is enough to see the difficulties Pep Guardiola has faced this season. Of the players who started in last year's FA Cup semi-finals, only three played against Nottingham.
Kyle Walker and Julian Alvarez have left. John Stones, Nathan Ake and Rodri are all injured. Manuel Akanji is still recovering from a long absence, while Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne have struggled to find stable form.
Among the players chosen as replacements, Guardiola deployed two midfielders - Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly - in the full-back position. In addition, he used a full-back - Rico Lewis - in midfield.
Nottingham, with the absence of Ryan Yates, Neco Williams and Ola Aina, also have their own problems. This led to 18-year-old defender Zach Abbott being given a second chance to play. But Man City have dealt with the problem better, and Guardiola, not Nuno Espirito Santo, will return to Wembley to face Palace in May.
Man City scored early in both sets - first by Lewis and then by Josko Gvardiol. Although Morgan Gibbs-White hit the crossbar and post, Nottingham never really looked like a winner.
For Man City, the control that Guardiola craves is gradually returning.
" Man City fans will come if they can, but they can't because of the difficult travel situation. People have to go to work on Monday and they may be late, the price, all the tickets.
Our job is to do our best. It would be better if there were our people cheering, but I don't complain at all, in fact it's the opposite. I was by their side, the fans wanted to come to Man City but couldn't come" - Guardiola added.
As Liverpool have had a difficult 2022-23 season under Jurgen Klopp, they have finished fifth in the Premier League, relegated to the Europa League and been knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round. Chelsea finished in 12th place in the same year and did not pass the third round in both domestic cup competitions.
Arsenal are also without a place in the Champions League in 2022 and have not won a title since 2020. Meanwhile, Man United and Tottenham are ranked 14th and 16th respectively in the Premier League rankings.
No matter what happens in the last few weeks, there will be no Man City wild celebrations or a convertible bus parade through Manchester. Guardiola has made that clear.
But as the campaign gradually comes to an end, there is still something to fight for. And with the goal of qualifying for the Champions League in mind and the upcoming third consecutive FA Cup final, there is still something for Guardiola to smile on this season.
