LADS, IT’S CITY
It was a great night for the city of Manchester in Big Cup. United won 3-0 at Young Boys, Paul Pogba is delivering on a consistent basis at last, and this Diogo Dalot appears to play like the second coming of Carlos Alberto. Meanwhile City were going down 2-1 at home to Lyon. Now on the face of it, that isn’t a positive. But consider: City were favourites going into this competition, so immediately rolling over and having your tummy tickled at home is a very Cityesque thing to do. Remember those sepia-toned days, pre-Pep, when things would occasionally get Typically City? Winning the title and getting relegated, keeping the ball in the corner to avoid getting relegated and getting relegated, all that? Well, that. It’s one of the main tenets of the City identity and they’ve been in grave danger of losing touch with it. But a time-honoured tradition has been maintained. Something for their fans to celebrate, then. Double double good.
And it’s not as if this situation is comparable to the time Malcolm Allison gave his “foreign people are cowards, we’ll attack like Real Madrid circa 1960” speech ahead of City’s 1968-69 Big Cup campaign, which then began and ended against Fenerbahce. City have another five games to right the wrongs of Wednesday night’s shocker, and in a group containing Hoffenheim and Shakhtar Donetsk, they surely will. In any case, it’s not as if they played particularly badly; they were ultimately defeated by a Nabil Fekir worldie, which he celebrated by sliding across the turf on those knees, a defiant display that may have given the doctors at Liverpool pause for thought. Sometimes these things just happen in football, sometimes it’s just not your day. Pep Guardiola, watching in the stands beneath the peak of an on-trend brown leather cap, will surely have shrugged and come to the exact same easygoing, laissez-faire conclusion as the Fiver. On the subject of the great man, we must get round to watching that Amazon doc sometime.
But it wasn’t 100% good news for all things Mancunia. The city had been looking forward to welcoming back Cristiano Ronaldo to his old stomping ground, when Juventus roll up at Old Trafford in a few weeks. However there’s a chance the former United winger will miss the game, on account of having got himself sent off against Valencia for a foolish and totally unnecessary spat with Jeison Murillo. Should the Uefa control, ethics and disciplinary panel decide that aggressive lock tousling is worth more than an automatic one-game ban, the planned homecoming will be kaput. And if checking for split ends with intent is an offence considered worthy of a three-match suspension, he’ll not even get to face United in Turin. But while Uefa won’t confirm their decision until next week, the word on the street is they’ll go easy, a one-game ban will suffice, and CR7 will be back in M16, toes a-twinkling, as previously anticipated. So yes, on balance, a great night for the city. Nice one! Sorted! Bangin’!
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I was dealing with this at 19; living in Manchester by myself, nowhere near anyone else, because the club had a hold over where I lived. They hadn’t given me a car, like every other player. Nothing. I’m living in this hell by myself, away from my family …” – Wilfried Zaha lifts the lid on his ill-starred spell at Manchester United.
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FIVER LETTERS
“Sid Lowe asks what chance Real Madrid have of winning Big Cup for the fourth year in a row and so extending their reign by another 365 days. May I be the first etc to point out that 2020 is a leap year and so winning in 2019 would extend the reign for 366 days. That is assuming the final in 2020 is played on the same date as 2019. Oh ... 364? 371?” – Robert Macmillan.
“It’s evident Salah needs a rest from Klopp’s heavy rock style of play. Enter Shaqiri?” – Tim Woods.
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RECOMMENDED LISTENING
It’s Football Weekly Extra! Featuring hot cow chat!
BITS AND BOBS
Police are investigating an apparent Nazi salute by a Lyon fan at Manchester City.
Paul Pogba and José Mourinho appear to be best buddies again after the midfielder thanked the manager for letting him take a penalty against Young Boys. “I had the confidence of the players, they let me take it and I should thank them for this, as well as the manager – he let me take,” cheered Pogba.
Mauricio Pochettino says he isn’t concerned by Spurs’ three-game losing streak. “I am so relaxed, I am so calm, because I know football,” he purred, stretching out on a chaise longue. “In the same time when you win you get a lot of praise that sometimes you don’t deserve. When you lose you must keep the balance and accept the criticism.”
West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic is a doubt for the weekend game against Chelsea with knee-knack.
STILL WANT MORE?
Are Manchester City so well drilled they can’t think on their feet, ponders Jonathan Wilson.
With Mariano Díaz making at splash at Real Madrid, Sid Lowe asks: who needs Ronaldo?
F91 Dudelange, who sound like a WW1 fighter jet, are gearing up for Milan, reports Nick Ames.
Classic YouTube, feat. Kevin Beattie, Zlatan and sumptuous set-piece gold.
Eni Aluko on the forgotten stars behind Liverpool’s front three.
And is Éver Banega set to reunite with Unai Emery at Arsenal? It’s the Rumour Mill.
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