3 back to back PLs, just won the treble and they’re still playing as if they had been missing on the league for half a decade, even without some key players. It’s ridiculous.
I remember Inter’s 2010-2011 side, who were still fresh from winning the treble and 5 scudetti in a row, and they were pretty spineless tbh. Did a decent season anyway, winning Copa Italia and making it to QF in the UCL, but didn’t seem much interested in defending any of their competitions including Serie A, which Milan won comfortably.
I know Mourinho left and also, there have been a couple of treble-winning sides since then who did just fine. But honestly, how common is it in sports to retain the same drive, even after achieving massive success? Not so common I’d say. It’s pretty unbelievable, regardless of what you may think of City.
I know about them just fine, the difference is that they hardly broke a sweat until the two Milans resurrected, apart from the occasional Napoli and Dortmund side here and there.
City, on the other hand, won 2 of their last 5 by 1 single point. And the last one, they were in second place for most of the tournament. PL has pushed them to the limit all these years and it would be understandable if they wanted to take it easy for once.