Having won the treble, Manchester City will set their sights on the septuple in 2023/24.
Owner Sheikh Mansour has already started planning with Pep Guardiola and City directors over how to keep the trophies coming, with the Champions League unlocking two more opportunities to win trophies.
Guardiola and his players say that they intend to defend their titles, and that they will reset from zero this summer. They will look to defend the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, go further in the Carabao Cup, and they can also pick up the Community Shield in August.
By February, they could be the holders of all seven trophies available to English clubs, should they win the Community Shield, Carabao Cup, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. The more competitions, however, the more fixtures to play, and City are facing a season where they may only get two free midweeks between August and June.
ALSO READ: Pep Guardiola can fulfil Sheikh Mansour's Man City vision by doing what Sir Alex Ferguson couldn't
After the Premier League fixture release, City's calendar for 2023/24 has become clearer - and so has the scale of their fixture congestion.
After opening the Premier League campaign at Burnley, City are in Greece to battle Europa League winners Sevilla for the UEFA Super Cup. They then have two free midweeks before the Champions League starts after the September international break. Between September and December, City face a game every midweek (except for the October international break) with six Champions League group games, two Carabao Cup rounds, and one Premier League game.
That brings City up to mid-December, when they will travel to Saudi Arabia to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time. The tournament begins on December 12, although City miss the first two rounds and enter at the semi-final stage, freeing them to play their final Champions League group fixture on December 12 or 13.
City will then likely miss the Premier League home game against Crystal Palace on December 16, and the visit of Brentford on December 23, causing both to be rearranged. Should they reach the Carabao Cup quarter-final, as they have on all but one occasion under Guardiola, that is also scheduled for the time when City are in Saudi Arabia.
When City return, they have a relatively easy Christmas schedule with a Boxing Day fixture and another on December 30. There is a free midweek on the week commencing January 1, ahead of the FA Cup third round the next weekend. After that, the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg is scheduled for the week of January 8, and the second leg for the week of January 21.
City, though, may still have that outstanding quarter-final to play, and a week's notice before the scheduled semi-final may not be enough, should it be played in the first week of 2024. There is a free midweek on the week of February 2, which could be used to push back a potential semi-final, with the final only three weeks later.
MEN Sport understands that discussions are already taking place between the EFL, Premier League and City to assess options and put contingency plans in place for the potential disruption that the Club World Cup will have on the Carabao Cup, should the scenario arise that City miss the scheduled quarter-final week.
If City navigate those complications and reach the Carabao Cup final, that will cause the trip to Bournemouth on February 24 to be moved, with the FA Cup fifth round likely taking place in the midweek slot after that game.
The Champions League last-16 first legs are split over two weeks, likewise with the second legs, so City could play a first leg on either February 13/14 or February 20/21 and the second legs would be March 5/6 or March 12/13. That frees up two midweeks to play two of their outstanding fixtures when they aren't in Champions League action, although UEFA are usually strict on the playing of domestic fixtures while Champions League games are being played.
Assuming City progress in the Champions League and FA Cup, they will not have another free midweek game until the week of April 22, although the Premier League home game against Brighton on March 16 and the trip to Tottenham on April 20 will have to be moved if any side is involved in the FA Cup in those rounds.
If City reach the final of the Carabao Cup and semi-finals of the FA Cup and Champions League, then they will have to rearrange five Premier League fixtures, plus a potential Carabao Cup quarter-final. Not including the two weeks of four set aside for Champions League last-16 ties, City only have six free midweek slots all season - with two coming at the start of the campaign.
To add to the complications, only one of the games that City must rearrange for the Club World Cup can be played in the free midweek slots in August, as the week of August 28 is set aside for the second round of the Carabao Cup, when both Crystal Palace and Luton will be involved.
In a worst-case (or best-case) scenario, City will play a maximum of 67 games next season. Discounting international breaks and the mid-season break in January, there are 68 weekend or midweek slots to play between the beginning and end of the season. With some potential postponements not known until later in the season, the authorities may have to come up with some inventive means for fitting all the fixtures in - as there may be a time later in 2024 when City have too many games to play and not enough slots to play them in.
ALSO READ:
