Manchester City, a team that has been the Premier League champions for the past four seasons and conquered Europe in 2023, has had a disappointing run in 2024-25. Despite reaching the FA Cup final at Wembley and being in a strong position to secure Champions League qualification, star player Erling Haaland describes this season as 'horrific'.
The team currently stands fourth in the Premier League, trailing by 18 points behind title winners Liverpool. Their hopes of winning a second Champions League within three seasons were dashed by Real Madrid during the knockout play-offs. Adding to their woes was an early exit from Carabao Cup at the hands of Tottenham. However, all hope is not lost as they still have an opportunity to salvage some pride with an FA Cup victory.
Road ahead
City will face Crystal Palace on Saturday, 17 May at Wembley - where they started their campaign with a win over Manchester United on penalties to clinch the Community Shield back in August. This match could provide them with something significant to celebrate amidst an otherwise lackluster season.
Erling Haaland joined Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund for £51.2m deal back in June 2022. His goals have been instrumental in helping Pep Guardiola's side win two Premier Leagues titles, one Champions League trophy, one FA Cup and UEFA Super Cup. On personal front too he has had quite successful runs bagging Golden Boot for being top scorer twice consecutively (in both 2022-23 and 2023-24) when he scored impressive totals of 36 and then 27 league goals respectively.
Erling Haaland, Manchester City striker, said:
"This season has been tough. It is not nice to lose so many games, it is boring and not fun. That's why we need to finish well and get a trophy. It is a good habit to reach Wembley and always important to win trophies. We have the FA Cup final to play for and in a horrific season we still managed to do this, that says it all.
"When you have won four league titles in a row, if you don't win five it's not going to be a successful season. Those are the standards we have set. We haven't done good enough in the league but still hoping for Champions League qualification.
"Crystal Palace are a really difficult club to play against. At Selhurst Park we drew [2-2 in December] and they started really well at the Etihad [in City's 5-2 win last month]. They are an amazing team with quality players."
This season also started promisingly for him scoring ten goals within first five matches including hat-tricks against Ipswich Town and West Ham United.
Dip in form
However, Haaland's form dipped mid-season with him scoring only 11 goals in the following 23 league matches. This dip has allowed Liverpool's Mohamed Salah to take pole position for finishing the campaign as top scorer.
Adding to his woes, Haaland suffered an ankle injury during the FA Cup quarter-final win over Bournemouth at end of March which kept him out of action for more than a month. He made his return in City's goalless draw against bottom-placed Southampton on Saturday. To expedite his recovery, he resorted to red-light therapy - a technique where infrared rays penetrate deep into tissues and joints to help prevent injuries.
Erling Haaland added:
"In England when there is not so much sun, you have to try and get your red light from somewhere else. It is about optimising the main things: training, sleep, to eat as clean as possible and do things that affect your recovery in the best way. The club pays a lot of money and the least I can do is try and get back as quick as possible. It has been horrible to get injured. It is not nice to see the team play but you have to make the best out of it and try to come back as quick as possible. You can't focus too much on the past because you can't do too much about it. All you can focus on is looking ahead. I am really happy to be back. Loads of energy."
Despite having a 'horrific' season by their high standards, Manchester City still has an opportunity to end it on a high note with the upcoming FA Cup final. The team will be hoping that star player Erling Haaland can rediscover his form and lead them to victory.
