Sir Alex Ferguson presented Pep Guardiola with his LMA Manager of the Year Award through gritted teeth as the Manchester United legend only half jokingly admitted: "It's sore, isn't it?"
Manchester City boss Guardiola secured a third consecutive English Premier League title after overhauling Arsenal at the top of the tree. And he could be on to repeat Fergie's Treble feat, 24 years after the Scot created history at Old Trafford. United lifted the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League after a dramatic end to the 199 final against Bayern Munich in Barcelona, when Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's stoppage time strikes completed an unlikely late turnaround.
Now City can bag the same trio of trophies, starting with a victory over their city rivals in Saturday's FA Cup Final at Wembley. Do that and it's on, with Inter waiting in the Champions League Final in Istanbul a week later. Having lost to Chelsea at the same stage during Covid and a Real Madrid comeback denying City at the semi-final stage last season, this is seen as the best chance they'll get to finally lift the prize they covet amongst all other.
