Man City: Are Pep Guardiola's side on for the treble of the FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League? | 1 News Day, breaking news, sport, business, politics, Science & Health

Gary Neville says Manchester City are “far too close for comfort” to emulating the treble win of his Manchester United side as Pep Guardiola’s team aim for the Champions League semi-finals.

City go to Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening with a relatively comfortable 3-0 cushion after an impressive performance in the quarter-final first leg at the Etihad.

They will also be buoyed by their 3-1 win over Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday being followed by leaders Arsenal dropping two points from 2-0 up at West Ham the next day.

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The gap at the top of the table is now just four points, with City having a game in hand and Arsenal coming to face them in Manchester on April 26.

Add in the FA Cup semi-final with Sheffield United at Wembley on Saturday and the pieces are falling into place for City to match the achievement of Neville and his United team-mates in 1998/99 by winning the league, the FA Cup and the Champions League.

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Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, the Sky Sports pundit admitted he was getting nervous about the prospect, saying: “It is ominous.

“I thought Manchester City were messing around a few weeks ago. They were bored. Now they’re playing four serious defenders every match. Whether it’s Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, John Stones. They’re all in there now. He’s playing a solid back four and one steps into midfield.

“I thought their Bayern Munich game was sensational. Bayern Munich were fantastic in the game in the first half and when Pep Guardiola said after the game he was worried, I could feel that as Bayern looked dangerous and sharp.

“He was resting players against Leicester because he knows he has to go to the Allianz Arena and it will be tough and he knows that. If Bayern get a goal, it is a bit like Anfield where they can go and get two or three.

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“They’ve had a brilliant week, City. To win that game 3-0 and beat Liverpool 4-1, they’re purring, they’re playing well. They’re serious now about it and they’re in great form now.

“Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan in midfield, the best midfield you can get. Up front, Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez are really settled now. They’re hitting the home straight.

“The treble was mentioned last week – it’s definitely on. They can win the European Cup, FA Cup and the Premier League.

“There’s a long way to go, they can come up against a team that does them on the way: Real Madrid in the Champions League, Manchester United or Brighton in the FA Cup or they could lose to Arsenal at the Etihad, but they’re very close to it. Far too close for comfort.”

What do the stats say?

While City have trailed Arsenal for much of the season – and continue to do so, lying four points behind the Gunners with a game in hand – the statistics suggest they are favourites to win their third Premier League title in a row.

According to Opta, Guardiola’s side have a 65.6 per cent chance of topping the table at the end of the season, with the probability of Mikel Arteta’s team doing so down at 34.4 per cent.

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The weekend’s results swing the numbers still further in City’s favour, but Opta already rated them as the team most likely to win the league even before Arsenal slipped up at West Ham, with the champions given a 53.1 per cent chance of retaining their title as of last Friday.

Opta are similarly optimistic of City’s Champions League chances, with Guardiola’s team given a 66.19 per cent chance of reaching the final in Istanbul, and a 44.8 per cent probability of winning the competition for the first time in their history.

City’s 3-0 advantage over Bayern ahead of their quarter-final second leg means their place in the last four should be certain, but Opta are also confident they will see off their semi-final opponents – most likely Real Madrid, given they have a 2-0 lead over Chelsea ahead of their return leg on Tuesday.

Should City make the final, their opponents would be one of Inter Milan, AC Milan, Napoli or Benfica.

Inter are struggling in Serie A and dropped out of the top four, but look well set to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since they won the tournament in 2010 after beating Benfica 2-0 in Portugal in the first leg of their last-eight meeting.

Milan will also be feeling good about their chances of meeting their city rivals in the semi-finals after beating Napoli 1-0 last week, but the Serie A leaders host the second leg in Naples on Tuesday.

European clubs to win the treble of league title, domestic cup and European Cup

Celtic – 1966/67
Ajax – 1971/72
PSV – 1987/88
Manchester United – 1998/99
Barcelona – 2008/09 and 2014/15
Inter Milan – 2009/10
Bayern Munich – 2012/13 and 2019/20

City will no doubt feel confident of seeing off any of those potential European adversaries – and they will no doubt feel similarly assured of their chances of beating Sheffield United, their opponents in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

City haven’t lost to Sheffield United since an FA Cup fourth-round meeting 15 years ago and lie 20 places above them in the English football ladder, with the Blades currently second in the Championship.

A potential FA Cup final meeting with Manchester United or Brighton appears more daunting, although City would point to the fact they are 11 points ahead of their city rivals in the Premier League and 21 ahead of the Seagulls.

If any further evidence were needed, Guardiola is one of just a handful of managers to have already completed the treble of league title, domestic cup and European Cup, doing so with Barcelona in 2008/09.

All of which is to say that Neville is right – the treble is very much on for City.