Manchester City are preparing to compete in their third FA Cup final in a row, and it was the City players’ pre-match conversations in last year’s final that motivated Manchester United to victory
Manchester City players’ discussions of an Ibiza holiday prior to the 2024 FA Cup final allegedly lit a fire under Manchester United to win the spectacle last season. That’s according to ex-United coach Benni McCarthy, who served as an assistant under Erik ten Hag from 2022 until last summer.
The Manchester derby was on the Wembley stage last season, with Pep Guardiola gunning for the opportunity to claim a Premier League and cup double.
It was also a chance for Ten Hag to earn a trophy for the second consecutive season at Old Trafford, which he achieved with a surprising 2-1 victory.
While City were the overwhelming favourites, considering they recently celebrated an unprecedented fourth league title in a row while finishing 31 points ahead of their city rivals, a pre-match moment among Guardiola’s men left the United squad motivated to complete the seemingly improbable task.
Speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at the launch of Gaffer of all Accas earlier this year, McCarthy said: “When we went to walk and inspect the pitch, at that moment, the disrespect from the City players kind of played a huge part.
“You know, when you stand there and you see the players, all little groups of friends here and there, the players are out on the pitch and soaking up the atmosphere. When we walked back towards the dressing room, a lot of the City players were discussing their trips to Ibiza after the game.
“So in their heads, they’ve already won the FA Cup and they’re already thinking about going to Ibiza and that. I think that kind of infuriated our boys because, mate, we’d got a final to win.
“We have a final to play, and you lot are talking about your after-party! Almost like in terms of they’ve already won it, and they are preparing the celebrations for it like they’re playing against no opposition. When we got into the dressing room, the players were like, ‘These lot are disrespecting us’.
“So then they, amongst themselves, had a little huddle, and in the huddle they were going at it about the disrespect, you know. I think that’s probably what we needed at that time. It just brought the furious side out of us.”
A year later, City find themselves in their third FA Cup final in a row on Saturday with Crystal Palace standing in their way of ending what has been a disappointing season with a trophy.
Despite a dismal campaign for United, who are resigned to finishing no higher than 13th this season, they can also claim silverware as they take on Tottenham in the Europa League final on Wednesday.
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