Manchester City are FA Cup finalists once again. On Saturday, Pep Guardiola made eight chances for his team's semi-final against Southampton and, when Finn Azaz fired the Saints in front, it appeared as though that decision had spectacularly backfired. Nevertheless, late strikes from Jérémy Doku and then Nico González saw the Citizens progress.
Thus, the Sky Blues will contest a fourth successive FA Cup Final, the first-ever club to achieve this. Before this, only nine times had any side ever reach three in a row, of which only five had done so since the foundation of the Football League in 1888.
Clubs to reach 3 successive FA Cup Finals (1872-2023)
- The Wanderers: 1876-88.
- Old Etonians: 1881-83
- Blackburn Rovers: 1884-86.
- West Bromwich Albion: 1886-88.
- Arsenal: 1978-80.
- Everton: 1984-86.
- Manchester United: 1994-96.
- Arsenal: 2001-03.
- Chelsea: 2020-22.
Man City's four successive final appearances is thereby a unique achievement in English football, but how does it compare to other clubs around Europe?
Clubs to reach 4 successive cup finals across Europe
Club | Competition | Years | Consecutive finals |
|---|---|---|---|
Paris Saint-Germain | Coupe de France | 2015-21 | 7 |
Barcelona | Copa del Rey | 2014-19 | 6 |
LOSC Lille | Coupe de France | 1945-49 | 5 |
Sporting CP | Taça de Portugal | 1970-74 | 5 |
Athletic Club | Copa del Rey | 1942-45 | 4 |
Barcelona | Copa del Rey | 1951-54 | 4 |
Real Zaragoza | Copa del Rey | 1963-66 | 4 |
Vitória de Setúbal | Taça de Portugal | 1965-68 | 4 |
Benfica | Taça de Portugal | 1969-72 | 4 |
Ajax | KNVB Beker | 1978-81 | 4 |
Roma | Coppa Italia | 2005-08 | 4 |
Internazionale | Coppa Italia | 2005-08 | 4 |
FC Porto | Taça de Portugal | 2008-11 | 4 |
Borussia Dortmund | DFB-Pokal | 2014-17 | 4 |
Juventus | Coppa Italia | 2015-18 | 4 |
Manchester City | FA Cup | 2023-26 | 4 (ongoing) |
Note: Only primary cups from UEFA's top-7 ranked leagues were included.
Across Europe's top-seven ranked leagues, Manchester City have become only the 15th different club to reach their primary domestic cup final in four successive seasons. In 12 months time, Guardiola's side will be seeking to match Lille and Sporting's sequence of five on the spin.
In the 21st century, Barcelona appeared in six successive Copa del Rey Finals between 2014 and 2019, winning four of them, but Paris Saint-Germain hold the record with seven consecutive Coupe De France Finals reached, winning six of them. Those are milestones for Man City to chase down in the future, but before then, they'll be seeking to avoid matching a historic streak.
Following defeat to Crystal Palace a year ago, having been beaten by Manchester United 12 months earlier, the Sky Blues are aiming to avoid defeat in three consecutive cup finals. So, how rare are feat would that be across Europe?
European clubs who have lost a cup final in 3+ successive seasons
Club | Competition | Years | Losing streak |
|---|---|---|---|
Celtic | SFPL League Cup | 1971-74 | 4 |
AEK Athens | Greek Cup | 2017-20 | 4 |
Vale of Leven | Scottish Cup | 1883-85 | 3 |
Odd | Norwegian Cup | 1908-10 | 3 |
Valencia | Copa del Rey | 1944-46 & 70-72 | 3 |
Celtic | SPFL League Cup | 1976-78 | 3 |
Panathinaikos | Greek Cup | 1997-99 | 3 |
Borussia Dortmund | DFB-Pokal | 2014-16 | 3 |
Lech Poznań | Puchar Polski | 2015-17 | 3 |
Chelsea | FA Cup | 2020-22 | 3 |
Note: Cups from UEFA's top-15 ranked leagues were included.
Across Europe, it is very rare for any club to lose three consecutive cup finals. Valencia have actually done so twice in the Copa del Rey, while only Borussia Dortmund and Lech Poznań have endured this across the continent since the turn of the century.
Only two clubs have lost four consecutive finals, namely Celtic in the League Cup in the early-70s and AEK Athens in the Greek Cup from 2017 to 2020, but Citizens don't need to worry about that just yet.
Of course, this has occurred once in the FA Cup very recently, with Chelsea beaten by Arsenal, Leicester City and then Liverpool on penalties between 2020 and 2022. Well, Calum McFarlane's Blues will be Man City's opponents at Wembley in May, after their 1-0 win over Leeds on Sunday.
Given the form of both teams, Guardiola's team will be overwhelming favourites, but they were against Man United and Palace in the last two finals too, so we cannot take anything for granted.
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