Can Oliver Glasner solve Pep Guardiola puzzle? The men in charge at FA Cup final | OneFootball

Oliver Glasner and Pep Guardiola’s last meeting ended with a stern caution from the Crystal Palace boss to Manchester City’s serial trophy-winner: “If we meet again, you can’t play in this system, because we will solve it.”

One month on from that 5-2 Eagles defeat by the 2024 Premier League champions, the Austrian will find out if Saturday’s Spanish counterpart heeded his warning when the two meet in the FA Cup final.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the two men leading out the sides at Wembley.

Guardiola is looking for a silver lining after a fruitless season he conceded has been the “most difficult” of his glittering 16-year managerial career.

City have two Premier League meetings remaining in a close battle to lock up a place in the Champions League again next season, while there will be another opportunity to fight for a trophy when the Club World Cup debuts in June.

Nevertheless, the 54-year-old concedes the lacklustre campaign has taken its toll.

“It’s been more demanding – much more,” said the 54-year-old.

“When you don’t win it’s more demanding emotionally and (in terms of) preparing and the moods and everything.

“It’s been more difficult than the previous seasons when we played for the titles.”

Guardiola has won 18 trophies with City and 39 across his managerial career, but revealed he still feels constant pressure to back up his reputation with results.

He added: “I didn’t find the way to let them feel comfortable and winning the games that would help us to win more games.

“I’m disappointed in myself when it’s not going well. I have to prove myself again and again. Life doesn’t live from memories.”

Oliver Glasner

Even Eagles boss Glasner admits he is surprised to find himself on the precipice of guiding Crystal Palace to their first major trophy.

A decade ago, Glasner was in charge of second-tier Austrian side SV Ried, where he also spent the majority of his playing career, eventually moving to the Bundesliga where he led Eintracht Frankfurt to Europa League glory in 2022.

Palace chairman Steve Parish said after their FA Cup semi-final victory over Aston Villa that the Salzburg native “made all of us think differently about football and about this club,” who are also one point away from achieving a club-record 50 in a Premier League season.

Glasner – still just in his first full season with Palace – continues to be a rumoured top target for the vacant RB Leipzig manager’s chair, but has brushed aside those rumours ahead of the Eagles’ attempt to make history.

The 50-year-old, speaking at a press conference ahead of their 2-0 Tottenham triumph, said: “Someone asked me this week, ‘where is the limit?’. I said, ‘I don’t know, because if you see a limit, you will never reach a higher limit’.

“Ten years ago I was managing in the Austrian second league, and if you told me, ‘10 years later, you will have won the Europa League and you will be facing an FA Cup final with a Premier League side’, I would say, ‘visit the doctor’.”