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
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 -
17th May 2023 
