25 since City's last triumph way back in 1976 -- and dominated in England and in Europe, the Blues have yo-yo-ed between disaster and underachievement.
Times have changed, though, and the talk of a shift in the balance of power between the two clubs suddenly sounds less far-fetched.
That view will certainly gather momentum if City can retain the first-half lead they established in the first leg of the Carling Cup semifinal when two teams resume hostilities in the return at Old Trafford this week.
And hostilities are virtually guaranteed given the events that marred the first meeting at Eastlands and that helped drag a New York bar and South American puppet into a very local row.
Outside the ground some United fans attempted to rush the turnstiles at kick-off while darts and golf balls were among the items confiscated by security staff, who were later unable to prevent some seats being ripped up inside the stadium.
On the pitch meanwhile, an equally fractious battle was being staged between Carlos Tevez, City's two-goal match-winner, and United's Gary Neville.
Neville was restricted to the substitutes bench, but the friction between the pair stemmed from a pre-match interview in which the United player supported manager Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to not to sign the Argentine at the end of his two-year loan spell at Old Trafford, insisting the Argentine was not worth the £25m asking price.
Tevez's response was to cup his ears towards Neville after scoring. Neville's reply? The finger.
That's where Topo Gigio comes in. The City striker's representatives attempted to explain their client's actions by claiming it was a gesture for his young daughter, mimicking her favorite television character.
Hardly convincing, and when reports emerged from Argentina, where Tevez had described Neville as "a boot-licking moron," no one was surprised.
Fearful that things might be getting out of hand ahead of the second leg, Greater Manchester Police and the FA have spoken to both clubs in a bid to minimize the usual pre-match taunting and provocation.
Against that background, then, a video clip of City chief executive Garry Cook regaling exiled Blues in the Mad Hatter Saloon claims that the club is on course to be "without doubt the biggest and best football club in the world" and claims it was a matter of "not if but when we are at Wembley having beaten Man United yet again" has inevitably ruffled feathers.
Taking a slender one-goal lead to Old Trafford has never been a guarantee of success and as good as City's recent form has been, they are facing a team that has appeared in the last two Champions League finals and last May completed a hat-trick of Premier League titles.
Wayne Rooney's four goals against Hull this weekend took United to the top of the table and confirmed the England striker has blossomed since Cristiano Ronaldo left for Real Madrid last summer.
On paper, then, City shouldn't even be thinking about matching their rivals for some time to come.
Yet there is a growing belief that the foundations of United's dominance may be showing signs of weakening.
Fundamentally, there are doubts about the financial stability at the club following the announcement that the debts of Red Football Joint Venture Ltd, the club's parent company, had swollen from £699m to £716.5m.
A succession of financial reports have detailing, amongst other things, plans to attract new investment and loans and payments made to members of the Glazer family, the club's owners, have raised eyebrows.
And supporters groups are planning a succession of events and demonstrations to protest and the ownership and direction United is being taken including a move by a number of fans to wear the green and gold colours worn when the club was formed as Newton Heath in 1878.
The overwhelming concern is that with such huge debts, the club may be forced to sell star players like Rooney to finance repayments.
By contrast, of course, City are flush with cash following the takeover by Abu Dhabi-based billionaire Sheikh Mansour in 2008 and whatever the strengths and weaknesses of Roberto Mancini's current squad, the manager has the cash to transform his playing staff whenever the transfer window permits.
No wonder, then, that City fans sense the tide could finally be turning their way, irrespective of the outcome of this week's game.
As it stands, City's boastful ambitions are no match for United's track record of success.
But it seems clear that this rivalry is only going to intensify -- and will be scrutinized from as far afield as New York City and Buenos Aires.
Ian Winrow is a London-based football journalist and columnist for GlobalSoccerCenter.com.
