Erik ten Hag will have to get creative with his Manchester United FA Cup final XI to beat Man City

Wednesday night sealed it. There will not be a more seismic post-war FA Cup final than next month's.

Manchester City will arrive at Wembley as champions and in the final of the Champions League. They are odds-on to emulate United's Treble 24 years ago. United are the best-equipped team to stop them.

City look an unstoppable force, a team with best-in-class in goal, in defence, in midfield, up front and on the touchline.

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Since the weekend of United's League Cup final win, City have recorded 17 wins and two draws in 19 games. The morale-sustaining stalemates were in Munich and Madrid.

United have won 10 of their last 19 and there have been five defeats, all of them away from Old Trafford and most of them egregious.

That City were the last victims of a true FA Cup final shock against Wigan a decade ago is moot. That day marked the end of Roberto Mancini's fruitful but fraught reign as he turned on the City press officer during his post-match debrief. Under Pep Guardiola, City are approaching their acme.

It is just as well for United their FA Cup final week is not interrupted by the Europa League final. The meek surrender in Seville is a blessing beyond Cup final preparations, a defeat that should signal the death knell for certain squad members who have outstayed their welcomes.

Erik ten Hag will have to be creative with his final XI. For the Old Trafford derby in January, he drafted Fred into midfield, started Christian Eriksen as the No.10 for the only time all season and shifted Bruno Fernandes to the wing. A repeat is foreseeable.

You only had to glance at the far corner of the Arthur Wait Stand at Selhurst Park a year ago to know