While Man City fans are no doubt nervous ahead of tonight’s massive game against Real Madrid, a couple of key stats will no doubt give them plenty of confidence, as not only have they won every home game in 2023, but they haven’t lost in the Champions League there in five whole years.
I mean, City have put up some seriously impressive statistics over the past few years but wow.
The Blues are back on top of the Premier League after Arsenal’s title charge seemingly came to an on Sunday and a big part of that recovery over the season is down to their home form, having won every single home game this year and only dropping points on two occasions all season.
The last result at home that wasn’t a win came on New Year’s Eve when they drew 1-1 with Everton and before that was a 2-1 loss to Brentford. Since then, they’ve been unstoppable at the Etihad and as if that wasn’t impressive enough, their performance at home in the Champions League is equally remarkable.
– City have lost only 1 game at the Etihad this season. – The last time City lost a Champions League game at the Etihad was in April 2018. – Real Madrid have never won at the Etihad. pic.twitter.com/EpL7PvC7JG
Yeah, Man City’s UCL record at home is pretty solid.
Rather unbelievably, Pep Guardiola‘s side haven’t lost a single home in the UCL since 2018 when they were beaten 2-1 by Lyon in their opening match of the group stages. That’s 25 home games unbeaten on the biggest stage in Europe. Crikey.
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In the years following that blip, they’ve gone on to reach the round of 16, quarter-finals and semis three times each, as well as the final in the 2020/21 season when they narrowly missed out on the trophy after a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.
It’s also worth noting that Real Madrid themselves have never won on any of their four visits to the Etihad Stadium — a stat that City fans will no doubt be pleased to hear, especially in such a rich vein of form overall, let alone when playing at home.
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As for Pep, he knows not only how massive this game is for the club who are still chasing that first Champions League, but both him and City as they could potentially win the coveted treble which would put them up there as one of the greatest sides of all time. However, he does not believe these next few games with “define [their] legacy”.
🗣 "Our legacy is exceptional already." 💪
Pep Guardiola does not believe the next month will define his or Manchester City's footballing legacy pic.twitter.com/bKqylEirhp
It might have been a close run affair away at the Bernabéu, with both sides taking just one goal into the decisive second leg, but City still have time to not only win but even live up to Wayne Rooney’s prediction and “blow Madrid away” in tonight’s home tie.
Stranger things have happened.
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Pep has already promised he has no plans to ‘overthink’ this one or try any new tactics with this one either. His game plan, as far as he would let on, is simple: play “fluid” and “play a little better” than last time”.
What do you reckon, is this the year Man City final win the Champions League?
Featured Image — Manchester City (via Twitter)/UEFA
Sport
Manchester’s National Football Museum to screen England’s Euro 2025 matches for free this summer
Emily Sergeant
England’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 matches are to be shown on big screens for free in Manchester this summer.
As England women’s national football team look to retain their title and continue to build on their ever-growing success as one of the best national football teams in the world, Manchester‘s National Football Museum is set to host a series of family-friendly watch parties after hours for the UEFA Women’s Euros this summer.
Visitors of all ages are welcome to support and celebrate England as they kick-off their campaign against France in the group stages on 5 July, followed by matches against the Netherlands on 9 July, and Wales on 13 July.
As Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses head to Switzerland with the hopes of being crowned European champions, you can head to the National Football Museum for some safe and inclusive fun.
Not only will the matches be shown in all their glory for free on a big screen, but you can also expect an on-site bar, and even the option to pre-order pizza ahead of time to feast on while you’re watching the action.
Watch parties will be taking place at the National Football Museum on the following dates:
France v England – 5 July at 8pm
England v Netherlands – 9 July at 5pm
England v Wales – 13 July at 8pm
To mark the beginning of the tournament, the museum will also be hosting a vibrant weekend of events on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July, so get ready to strike a pose in Lionesses’ kits, create your own dazzling banner, and drum-up support with your very own chant.
Manchester’s National Football Museum is screening England’s Euro 2025 matches for free this summer / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“This promises to be an exciting summer for football,” said Tim Desmond, who is the CEO of the National Football Museum.
“We want to bring the powerful sense of community that tournament football delivers to our museum, helping both new and returning visitors understand why football matters, and witness the impact our pioneering Lionesses can have in inspiring generations of budding young footballers.
“That’s why we are so delighted to be able to offer watch parties for this year’s tournament, providing a safe, inclusive, and exciting place for all fans to cheer on England.”
Featured Image – Molly Darlington / The FA (via England on Facebook)
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Manchester City confirm fourth signing of the summer as spending spree continues
Danny Jones
Manchester City have officially revealed their fourth signing of the summer window after confirming the transfer of top target Tijjani Reijnders.
The highly sought-after Serie A midfielder joins the club from AC Milan on a five-year contract for an initial fee of approximately £46.5 million, after having been tracked by a number of clubs across Europe over the past season or so.
Reijnders, 26, registered 15 goals and five assists from central midfielder last season (more than any other player in the league) with Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki stating that he models his game on Kevin De Bruyne, making him the perfect replacement for the Belgian – on paper, at least.
Finally unveiled on Wednesday, 11 June, he is arguably the statement signing of what looks to be a continued spending spree which began back in January.
With Man City splashing roughly £200m to kick off the 2025 calendar year as they brought the likes of Omar Marmoush and a trio of defensively geared players in Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and CDM Nico Gonzalez, it seems like they started as they mean to go on.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak assured fans that the club would be picking up “several players” in a recent interview after he argued they hadn’t been aggressive enough last summer, and given that the current main window hasn’t even been open for a fortnight yet, we’d say he’s sticking to that promise.
This year actually marks a rare instance of the transfer window being broken up into two parts due to the FIFA Club World Cup (which City are among the favourites to win) and will then re-open on 16 June.
Nevertheless, the Blues look to have got plenty of their business done already, not only with the arrival of Reijnders but the acquisition of left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri earlier this week, plus another attack-minded midfielder, Rayan Cherki.
The second player of Algerian descent and the second signing of the summer window was quickly announced by the Man City social media team just before the Dutchman.
Along with the signing of a new shotstopper, Marcus Betinelli from Chelsea – set to replace former reserve goalkeeper Scott Carson, who left the club after six seasons on Monday – that makes it four new incoming already.
Once again, not only do these latest additions to Pep Guardiola’s squad take their transfer total to over £300m on new talent in 2025, but there is still plenty of time for City to sign even more players with the summer window not closing until 7pm BST on 1 September.
Although the club have now acquired all of the players they have been most publicly linked with so far, it’s unclear whether their spending will continue or if the focus now turns to the Club World Cup getting underway this month and preparing the current squad for next season.
What do you make of Man City‘s latest recruits? Don’t forget, there have been some new arrivals in the backroom as well.
Danny Jones -
17th May 2023 
