Manchester City will play Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final after a thrilling weekend of semi-final action.
Goals from Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol ensured Manchester City will be involved in the FA Cup final for a third consecutive season, having met Manchester United at Wembley in the last two campaigns.
Crystal Palace – however – will be no easy opponent to handle.
The south Londoners claimed a 2-2 draw in the Premier League meeting at Selhurst Park, and also went 2-0 up after just 21 minutes at the Etihad Stadium recently, before Manchester City fought back to win 5-2.
After that 5-2 thriller, Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner sent Pep Guardiola a warning in case they met again at Wembley, which, of course, will now be the case.
What Oliver Glasner said to Pep Guardiola
Crystal Palace actually went 3-0 up after 30 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, only for Eberechi Eze to see his second goal ruled out, and despite eventually succumbing to a heavy defeat, Glasner was defiant in his post-match press conference.
The Austrian warned Guardiola about using the same tactical setup at Wembley, saying: “Yes (I think Crystal Palace can beat against Manchester City in the final).
“I said to Pep afterwards, if we meet again, you can’t play in this system, because we will solve it.”
Guardiola used a 4-2-3-1 formation against Crystal Palace last time out, which eventually worked to perfection despite an early scare after goals by Eze and Chris Richards.
However, it would be a risk to utilise the same system against Glasner, who is quite clearly a talented tactician – even a top coach in Unai Emery has failed to beat him in four attempts this season, with Crystal Palace claiming three wins and a draw.
Manchester City prize money
Manchester City – who want Jude Bellingham – have earned a cash prize of £1m after beating Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The FA have awarded the Citizens the £1m sum for winning their semi-final against the Reds, and there will be a further £1m to come regardless of what happens against Crystal Palace, as that amount is awarded to the runners-up.
If Manchester City – who Diogo Costa has agreed to join – win the FA Cup, they will receive £2m to go with the £1m prize for beating Nottingham Forest.
