Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano had two very difficult legs against Man City in the Champions League. That being said while pundits didn’t hold back on their criticism across the tie, one commentator chose a very unique way of describing his performance: by calling him ‘Upamaguire’.
It’s not too often you hear footballers described as playing badly through the means of comparing them to another top-flight professional on live television.
Nevertheless, as City sent themselves quite comfortably into the semi-finals 4-1 on aggregate, a broadcaster providing beIN Sports‘ Arabic commentary decided to compare Upamecano’s sup-par showing to fellow down-on-his-luck defender, Harry Maguire.
The 24-year-old nearly got sent off, gave away an unfortunate penalty and got sat down for Haaland’s goal.
It’s giving Jack Grealish slating Miguel Almiron for absolutely no reason. Man United fans can only hope it at least results in a similar upturn in form.
ADVERTISEMENT
Yes, sadly the unfortunate United defender can’t escape criticism even when it’s not him that’s playing, with the commentator clearly throwing out ‘Upamaguire’ as a dig at the French centre-back’s faltering performance across the tie.
It goes without saying that this isn’t the most professional behaviour from the broadcaster, but only further goes to show just how bad a moment Maguire is going through.
ADVERTISEMENT
As if that wasn’t unexpected and outlandish enough, it’s not even close to being the most bizarre moment of criticism the 30-year-old has faced of late; it was only last year that an MP in Ghana tried to mock the opposition by comparing them to the England international. No, we’re not joking.
To make matters worse, Maguire had a similarly poor game in his last outing for the Red Devils against Nottingham Forest last weekend and the game prior saw him head home one of two own goals in their disappointing draw against Sevilla.
With the second leg of the Europa League quarter-final being played this evening and both of Erik ten Hag’s first-choice centre-back partnership out injured, Maguire will have to step up if his team are to have any hope of going through. Unnecessary jibes like this certainly don’t help.
Featured Image — Upamecano (via IG)/BT Sport/Harry Maguire (via Twitter)
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
20th April 2023 
