Let’s be upfront about it. As Manchester City supporters, many of us are at least a little spoiled.
Obviously, City finished second in the Premier League last season. For a huge chunk of this club’s history, that would have been cause for celebration. Instead, 2025/26 felt like a bit of a letdown — although still better than the “horrific” 2024/25 campaign.
That reaction is only possible because City have spent the better part of the past 15 years redefining what success looks like. Second place used to be a dream. Now it’s table stakes.
So with the Age of Pep behind us and new man Enzo Maresca now in the dugout, let’s take a look at what happened to City in the seasons after they finished runner-up. It’s occurred three times in the past 25 years, and the results range from euphoric to underwhelming. Here’s the history.
2012/13 to 2013/14: Heartbreak, then a new manager delivers
City finished second in 2012/13, a distant 11 points behind a rampaging The Club That Shall Not Be Named in Sir Alex’s final season. Roberto Mancini, who’d delivered City’s first first-division title in 44 years just 12 months earlier, was sacked within days of the season ending.
In walked Manuel Pellegrini, and City won the Premier League in his debut. It was less a coronation and more a rollercoaster ride. City led the table for only 14 days all season, needing a five-match winning run to snatch the championship on the final day with a victory against West Ham.
We all remember Liverpool’s late collapse (the Gerrard slip, the blown 3-0 lead against Crystal Palace) to get City over the line. But get over the line they did, with a historically prolific attack netting 102 goals. Yaya Toure ran the midfield like a general, Sergio Aguero (17 goals) and Edin Dzeko (16) both hit double figures, and Joe Hart recorded 13 clean sheets.
Newcomer Fernandinho began his journey toward club legend status, and Alvaro Negredo scored 23 goals across all competitions in his only season wearing sky blue. Incredibly, Negredo outscored the entire West Ham team 3-0 across two legs of the League Cup semifinals.
The lesson: A coaching change after a second-place finish isn’t automatically a step backward. Sometimes it’s the reset a squad needs.
2014/15 to 2015/16: The Club that didn’t bounce back
City finished second to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2014/15, eight points back in a season that was rarely close. Pellegrini stayed on for 2015/16, and the follow-up season was, frankly, a mess domestically. Despite spending big to bring in future City stars Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Nicolas Otamendi, the club placed fourth, 15 points off champion Leicester City’s fairy tale, with 10 league losses exposing real defensive fragility.
There was a genuine high point, though: City reached their first-ever Champions League semi, falling to Real Madrid. And there was context to soften the blow. This was openly Pellegrini’s farewell tour, with Pep’s arrival for 2016/17 already confirmed mid-season. It had the unmistakable feel of a club treading water while waiting for the next era to begin.
The lesson: Buying top talent doesn’t guarantee immediate results for a new head coach.
2019/20 to 2020/21: From 13th place to league winners
City finished second to Liverpool’s romp in 2019/20. Guardiola stayed on, of course, and the following season produced perhaps the most dramatic City title of the modern era — not because of a close race, but because of how far back they started. After David Silva and Leroy Sane departed the club before the season, City seemed rudderless. They sat 13th in the table in mid-November, and everyone was genuinely questioning them as a top-four side.
Then they ripped off a 21-match unbeaten run across all competitions, including 15 straight Premier League wins.
New arrival Ruben Dias transformed the defence, with another newcomer, Nathan Ake, adding depth. They simply suffocated opponents, topping the league in fewest shots conceded per game. Underscoring their hard-nosed play, defensive-minded midfielder Ilkay Gundogan led the team with 17 goals in all competitions.
City won the title with three games to spare and even reached their first-ever Champions League final (losing to Chelsea).
The lesson: A slow (even alarming) start with a new coach does not mean the season is lost. Sometimes it takes patience to wait for the turnaround.
So what does this portend for 2026/27?
If there’s a pattern here, it’s that there isn’t one. City have followed a second-place finish with a title twice in the past quarter-century and with a genuinely disappointing fourth-place finish once. New coach, same coach; slow start, fast start: City have lived every version of this story already.
What we do know is that Maresca’s arrival mirrors the 2013/14 blueprint most closely. A fresh manager is stepping into a talented squad coming off a runner-up finish, tasked with proving that second was a blip, not the new normal. History says that formula can absolutely work. It also says it’s no guarantee. Buckle up.
